Roommates
by AkiraDawn
Summary: Zack and Cloud are the best of friends and the best of roommates. Thank goodness there is someone there for you any time you need them. Pairings are Zack x Aerith, Cloud x Tifa. Rated M for a reason!
1. Texting

Roommates

Setting is Crisis Core-ish,

I don't own Final Fantasy, it belongs to Square Enix

The clock read 8:30 but his head screamed hangover. Aerith was sound asleep and the only thing in the world Zack wanted right now was a glass of water. He wearily opened his eyes but felt too sick to get out of bed and stumble to the bathroom or the kitchen or wherever to get water. Zack felt sick. Last night had been one of the best but now he was paying for it. Zack couldn't even sit up in bed right now and the unwelcome sun was trying to peek in between the blinds. Zack had the most miserable of headaches but it looked like Aerith was pretty peaceful. He looked over at the nightstand beside his bed hoping a glass of water would appear there. It didn't. Zack laid back down closer to Aerith. Maybe if he could just fall back asleep he would forget about how much he needed water.

The apartment was so quiet this morning. Zack could hear Aerith breathing but as he lay there feeling like he may throw up he couldn't help but hear the silence around him. The TV couldn't be heard in the living room and there was no light from the kitchen trickling in underneath Zack's bedroom door. He buried his head in his pillow as his stomach churned. Why the hell had he drank so much the night before? At this rate, Zack knew he would be recovering from this wretched feeling for half of the day to come.

In the living room of this two bedroom apartment Cloud had just opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep on the couch last night. He was in much better shape than Zack but as he awoke he noticed that Zack hadn't bothered cleaning up any of the bottles from the table in front of the couch. Cloud hated it when Zack didn't clean up from these kinds of weekend nights. Cloud laid there holding on to the pillow tightly staring blankly at two empty liquor bottles and one partially empty one. Cloud yawned, reached out for his phone and rolled over on his back. He had two new text messages; both from Tifa. One was sent at 3:00 AM. Cloud read it: 'Just got in. Don't worry my door is locked.' Last night when Tifa had left Zack and Cloud's apartment Cloud had made Tifa promise to text him when she got back to her apartment across town. He read the other text from her. It was sent at 3:45 AM: 'Still thinking about what we did. Can't get it out of my mind. You're probably asleep but just wanted to tell you that.' Cloud smiled slightly to himself. What they _did _was the first thing he had thought about this morning as he opened his eyes. Cloud sent her a message: 'Just got your message. Still thinking about you. What time do you get off work today? Stop by later.' He was fluttery this morning. It was a strange feeling.

As Cloud got up from the couch he realized his clothes smelled of a combination of liquor, sweat and Tifa. He didn't care that he smelled like Tifa but he felt messy otherwise. Cloud decided to make a pot of coffee and take a shower before proceeding any further with this morning. Cloud wished Zack would get up soon. He needed to talk like….now. Since that wasn't happening any time soon, Cloud left the coffee to brew and headed for the shower. In Zack's room, he knew he had to get out of bed simply because he needed headache medicine and he was now beyond thirsty. He looked at Aerith beside him before pushing himself reluctantly out of bed. Now he knew he was going to throw up and he had to prepare for this and fast. Cloud would scold him for sure if he threw up on the carpet and left a stain in here. There would go their security deposit for sure. Zack was really disappointed in himself right now for not pacing better the night before.

Now Zack was half-laying in the bathroom floor but he already felt somewhat better. His head felt hot and he desperately needed to get some medicine in him. Zack sat there on the cold tile for a bit longer until his head stopped spinning around. He sighed and slowly rose to his feet. Oh god, this felt horrible! He wasn't even dressed and had no idea where the hell he had thrown his clothes the night before. Zack leaned against the bathroom door before taking another step. He wanted to blame Tifa for this even though he knew this was his own doing.

Tifa was one hell of a bartender and it was evident every time she came over and made something. So, what had exactly happened in this apartment last night? It had been a typical Friday night. Aerith didn't work on Fridays so she usually cleaned up after Zack half of the day while Cloud and Zack were away. She didn't technically live here with them…but it certainly seemed like she did. Zack had gotten home first that Friday and had been bitching to Aerith about what a horrible day it had been and of course she had a solution. Zack had called Cloud and told him to bring some liquor home when he got off work. Two hours later Cloud was home with the liquor Zack had requested and of course Zack also had to bitch to Cloud about the day. Well, Cloud listened and Zack started drinking. Eventually all three of them were drinking because why let Zack have all the fun, right? By 8:30 that night Cloud got a phone call from Tifa. She had just finished up at the bar and naturally Cloud told her to come by. Zack and Cloud's apartment was closer to the bar than Tifa's apartment was. In fact, her apartment was in a much quieter part of town nestled in the hillside. It was a good eight blocks from the bar.

Once Tifa had arrived and gotten a hold of those liquor bottles she began making a little bit of everything and both Zack and Aerith drank anything she put in their hands. It had been incredibly amusing. Aerith was always such an adorable drunk. She'd do anything anyone told her to do and she was always painfully honest. Zack would always come up with these crazy ideas that he wanted to act on and then Cloud would have to remind him that he was drunk. By 12:45 that night Zack and Aerith had gone to bed but they sure as hell hadn't gone to sleep.

That's how Zack ended up in his current state: feeling awful and making his way slowly to the living room. But, what about Cloud and Tifa? What was going on there? That…was an entirely different story that unfolded after 12:45.

"Morning. You don't look so great." Cloud said as Zack showed his weary face. Zack didn't say anything. He closed his bedroom door so he and Cloud wouldn't wake Aerith. "Come on, sit down. It's obvious to me that you need some aspirin and some toast that is if you can handle toast." Cloud said getting up to get Zack some aspirin.

"Between you and me man…I've already thrown up this morning. I desperately need aspirin and I desperately need toast." Zack said letting his head hit the back of the couch. "Why do you let Tifa do that to me?"

"I hardly think this was Tifa's doing." Cloud said laughing at Zack. He closed the kitchen cabinet and walked over to Zack offering him four much needed aspirin and a glass of water. Zack was the only guy in the world that Cloud would tolerate being this sloppy. He'd do anything for Zack, whether that be getting him aspirin and toast or walking to the ends of the Earth for him. Zack was also the only guy that Cloud would tolerate being this close to naked on their couch. It was okay though, Zack had the body to be this nearly undressed. Cloud went back into the kitchen to wait on Zack's toast.

"Would you believe me if I told you Aerith was still sound asleep? I mean, I look over at her and there she is just sleeping away being all…not sick." Zack said laying down and turning the TV on. Cloud's phone made a sound. Zack reached out for it. Cloud froze where he was and watched Zack nervously.

"Don't read it, don't read it, don't read it." Cloud repeated to himself over and over. He normally didn't care that Zack went through his phone and Zack did it all the time. But this time…he didn't know what that message would say.

"You got a message from Tifa. It says 'I get off at 5:00. Got to get stamps. Be by at 6:00.' What do you want me to tell her?" Zack said having completely taken over Cloud's phone. They did this frequently; one would text for the other but right now Cloud didn't really want Zack to answer Tifa for him.

"Um…I'll…I'll answer her in a minute." Cloud said slapping butter on Zack's toast before taking it to him. He had to get that phone out of Zack's hands before he read any of their messages from last night. Zack put Cloud's phone back on the table. He sat up again and took the toast from Cloud. Cloud quickly swooped up his phone before Zack had a chance to grab it again. He messaged Tifa back: 'Going out later. Will get you stamps. Can't wait until you're here.' He shoved his phone into his pocket. He couldn't risk Zack asking too many questions…that was until he told Zack about what happened.

"So what are you doing today? I swear I think I'm going back to bed after I eat this toast and something else. Shit, I have to recover." Zack said. Cloud let his head rest on the back of the couch.

"I have to tell you something but if you're in no mood to hear it right now I understand." Cloud said.

"Go get me one of those cream filled chocolate cake things and I will eat that and listen all you want." Zack said. Cloud did as Zack asked and returned to the couch beside him. He brought Zack two of those cakes just in case.

"Thank you, god this is already making me feel a little better. Okay, I'm listening. What's up?" Zack asked.

"Um…well…me and Tifa…kind of did something last night." Zack put the cake down on the table. He was intrigued.

"Oh thank god! It's about freakin' time! My god you two have only made out like a hundred times!" Zack said. Cloud shook his head.

"No, we didn't have sex…well maybe a little…no…what we did wasn't really supposed to happen it just kind of...did." Cloud admitted. Zack studied Cloud's face.

"Oh my god, you're smitten. Start talking, I _have _to know what the hell happened. I'll even get another cake myself if I have to!" Zack said. Cloud was about to tell Zack everything that happened after he and Aerith had gone to bed last night.

"Okay, you know that me and Tifa had a lot less to drink than you and Aerith, right?" Cloud began.

"Yeah, that's definitely true." Zack said.

"Well, even though we didn't have nearly as much as you two we were still drunk. It's not like that was a big deal because the four of us have been drunk together before. Last night was different though; I flirted with her a lot and she flirted back with me…a lot." Cloud stopped and thought a moment. "You know how you're always saying that I never call any of the girls whose numbers you give me because I'm secretly hung up on Tifa?"

"Yeah, I say that because I'm right." Zack said.

"You're right. I am. I kind of think we might be more than friends now. Our relationship is definitely different. After you two went to bed she and I were sitting here just talking and we had stopped drinking at that point. I don't know why I did it but I reached out and took her hand. She has very soft hands. It forced her to move closer to me; which she didn't mind. She ended up putting her arms around me and she looked so relaxed so I told her to lay down and I would lay behind her." Cloud closed his eyes for a minute. "I started kissing her neck and between you and me the fact that she was wearing a tank top last night was pure torture."

"What do you mean? Man, she would have let you take her top off. You should have done it because this story would be different right now." Zack said.

"Anyway I didn't…but I did touch her. I just wasn't even thinking Zack; I just touched her and I never have before…not like that at least. It was around this time that you and Aerith were going at it pretty hard because you know how I can hear everything. That wasn't uncomfortable at all!" Cloud said teasingly. Zack laughed. So after we talked about you two, she pulled me on top of her. I think she was sending me a message when she did that but I didn't get. She had her hands all over me and she grabbed the sides of my pants and rubbed her hips hard in to me..." Zack cut him off.

"There was your second message that you didn't get. Shit Cloud, she wanted to fuck your brains out. And let me tell you something! Tifa's hot…I mean she's like…holy shit hot. If you don't do something soon someone else is going to steal her right out from underneath you…literally! I swear if this story ends with 'and we're going to continue to be awkward around each other and not admit how we really feel' I am going to so pissed at you." Zack stood up to get another cake from the kitchen. He was still moving pretty slowly and Zack was right, Tifa was beautiful and any man would have loved to have called her their girlfriend.

"I know, I know and I promise this story ends well. Well, she's grinding her hips in to me and I'm grinding my hips into her and yes we're pretty much going through the motions at this point. I'm not sure but I think I actually felt her fingertips in my pants. Everything was fine but then she kinda moaned which was really…hot…and then it got worse because she said 'don't stop I'm gonna come.' Naturally I'm thinking…oh my god…this is so not happening." Cloud said.

"You have got to be kidding me. My god this story just keeps getting better. You two are so not _just_ friends anymore. You made a mess didn't you? Thank god you were wearing pants otherwise we would have to burn this super comfortable couch which would be a shame since we still own 1000 gil on it" Zack said. Even though Zack felt awful he still managed to be hilarious. Cloud buried his face in the pillow beside him to keep from laughing at what Zack had just said. "You laugh because I'm right aren't I?" Cloud sat up again.

"See that's kind of what I'm getting to. Things just got a little too heated between us yeah we both ended up climaxing right here without ever taking any clothes off." Cloud said.

"Let me tell you why that happened; it's three years of built up sexual tension between the two of you. I'm so glad this moment is finally here!" Zack said laying over on the couch.

"There's one more thing. She left at around 2:30 last night. I didn't really want her to go. I just kept holding on to her at the door. I can't tell you how many times I kissed her before I finally let her leave. When she was outside on the front step I told her that next time is for real. She came back up the step and kissed me and she said 'maybe next time will be sooner than later.' She smiled and it was so beautiful; then she left. I haven't been able to stop thinking about her." Cloud had finally confessed everything that happened last night.

"I like where this is going. Listen, I'm headed back to bed but I'm glad you told me about this. I think its long overdo and I am so glad you two are not going to walk on broken glass around each other. Is it okay if I tell Aerith whenever she wakes up?" Zack asked standing up and preparing to return to his dark room.

"Yeah you can tell her. I'm going to leave in a while and get some groceries in and run some errands. You'll probably be asleep later." Cloud said.

"Alright, g'night, man." Zack said disappearing and closing his bedroom door. Cloud's phone made another sound. He pulled it out of his pocket. It was another text message from Tifa. 'Thanks for stamps, can't wait to be with you.' It made Cloud's heart flutter even more. He had never felt this way before.


	2. Stamps for Tifa

"Hey." Tifa said smiling all over. It was one of those semi-awkward 'what do I say to you now' smiles.

"Hey." Cloud tried as hard as he could to hide his enthusiasm that Tifa was here. "Do you always look so…wow…when you go to work?" Cloud asked her. Tifa blushed and laughed to herself. She did look amazing tonight with her slim fitting white blouse, short black pleated skirt and her thigh high black legwarmers.

"I um…I didn't think I looked _that_ good." Tifa said still turning red.

"Oh you look that good, trust me. I should let you come in." Cloud said opening the door further. Tifa stepped up to where she was facing Cloud. She was still smiling. She hesitated because Cloud hadn't moved yet; he reached his arms out to her and pulled her into him tightly. Tifa locked her lips with his as she held on to Cloud just as tightly as he held her. It was far from an innocent peck on the lips. Cloud had to remind himself to not feel Tifa up here in the doorway of his apartment. Cloud pulled her inside and closed the door behind her. He pulled his lips away from her but was still squeezing her body against his. Tifa let her hands caress Cloud's shoulders.

"Whoa…if I can be greeted like that every day after work I might come by every day before I go home." Tifa said a bit breathlessly. Cloud smiled at her and took her by the hand into the kitchen.

"Sit down. You hungry?" Cloud asked opening up a cabinet.

"I am actually." Tifa answered.

"Well, you've worked all day and I've done….not a lot…so I will fix you something. Oh, and here I almost forgot. Now, Aerith got a hair ribbon from Zack on their first date but she likes that kind of thing. You get stamps which qualifies you to utilize all the services the post office has to offer." Cloud said plopping a book of stamps in front of Tifa. She laughed and picked up the stamps that Cloud had gotten for her earlier.

"So this is our first date, huh? Man, you got me value book too. This will last me over a month." Tifa asked letting her eyes wander all over Cloud.

"Would you rather it be our second date? And yeah, I wanted you know I really cared." Cloud said winking at her as he pulled a variety of things out of the cabinet. Tifa blushed again and laughed.

"No, no. It can be our first but um…if it's a date it kinda sounds like we're a couple. I should probably share these stamps with you." Tifa said smiling all over.

"It does…doesn't it? Yeah I've always heard that couples _do_ share stamps…even though Zack and Aerith have never done that." Cloud laughed and walked over to Tifa and kissed her.

"Great! Now I have a boyfriend to go to the post office with me on weekdays from 8-4:30 and Saturdays from 10-12:00. We'll just have to figure out _something_ to do when they are closed." Tifa said her gaze still locked on Cloud. She couldn't hide her smile.

"You're funny, Tifa. Oh and I'm pretty confident we'll figure something out to do when we aren't mailing things." Cloud said jokingly. She knew what he meant.

"You can count on that." She said.

"Now, what would you like to eat?" Cloud said sitting a few things in front of Tifa.

"Since when do you even cook?" Tifa asked.

"Since Zack's not the best at it and since I have a girlfriend that shouldn't be cooking because she looks so hot." Cloud said.

"In that case…hmm…I want…ooooh will you make me this macaroni and cheese! That sounds really good!" Tifa said, her eyes lighting up.

"I will make you that." Cloud said taking the box from Tifa and sitting it on the kitchen table while he dug in a cabinet for a large sauce pan. "You want to see something funny? Yesterday, I told Zack to make a grocery list. Here's his list." Cloud said handing over a piece of paper to Tifa. She read it: juice, green dishwasher crap, fruit snacks. Tifa looked at Cloud.

"That list is for a week. That was his list of stuff to get for a _week_." Cloud said. Tifa laughed and tucked the stamps away in the top of her black leg warmers. "I don't have to tell you that I redid the list so that we would actually have something to eat in this place for the week." Cloud said turning the stove on.

"Where is Zack?" Tifa asked.

"He's been in bed all day. Aerith is here too. I have not seen her today. Of course, I was gone for three hours this afternoon so she may have been up and gone back to bed. They are both so hung over it's ridiculous." Cloud said.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Aerith drink like that in a long time and that was hilarious when Zack asked me if I would make out with her if I got drunk enough." Tifa said.

"What was even funnier was the look on his face when you told him no. He would probably pay you to see that, you know? We're talking any price you want. Zack would love to come home and find you in bed with Aerith." Cloud said. "Don't you ever tell him I told you that."

"And why does he feel so strongly about that?" Tifa asked.

"That's easy. He thinks you're beautiful and he of course thinks Aerith is beautiful. Need I say more?" Cloud asked.

"Oh, Zack…he's something else." Tifa said. "Should I help you?"

"No, you should sit right there at the table the way you are." Cloud reassured her.

"Do you want me to put that laundry in for you?" Tifa asked turning around in the chair at the table only to notice a mountain of laundry that had exploded in the small room behind her.

"No, you don't have to do anything. Besides half of that laundry is Aerith's." Cloud said. "She likes it done a certain way.

"Why does she bring her laundry over here?" Tifa wondered.

"Because she's always here. Half of Zack's closet is hers. You know how wonderful I think Aerith is and it's like I told you last night I think she's perfect for Zack. But…she is here….all the time. Five days out of seven she is here. Now, I wouldn't mind at all however…" Cloud didn't have to explain any further. The sound of Aerith screaming for Zack behind his bedroom door was enough to prove his point that neither Zack nor Aerith could ever just fuck quietly. "Well, that's the problem Tifa. I need his room completely soundproofed because I deal with this all the time."

"Have you said, Zack can you fuck her without me hearing it? If Aerith were living with me, I would be telling her." Tifa said. Cloud drained the short pasta in the sink.

"Can't say as we have ever had that conversation though it would probably be a very good idea. I mean, Tifa…I know his every move. I'm at the point where I can predict what's going to happen next in there. I know everything Aerith will do and won't do…I could care less but unfortunately I know that shit!" Cloud said. Tifa gasped as Cloud stirred the cheese sauce into the macaroni.

"What won't she do? She tells me way too much all the time but she's never told me what she won't do!" Tifa said intrigued. Cloud walked over to her and whispered something rather lengthy to her as he rested his hand on her shoulder. Tifa put her hand over his.

"Oh, oh….I can so get her to do that. Give me four days and I'll talk her in to it." Tifa said reassuringly. Tifa could talk Aerith into just about anything not because they were such good friends but because Tifa was just a pro at talking Aerith into stuff. Cloud laughed at her. "By the way, that wasn't so bad. I can't hear a thing now." Tifa said referring to Zack and Aerith.

"Wait…wait for it…aaaaand." Cloud pointed to Zack's door. Tifa's eyes grew wide as she covered her mouth. It was partial shock that Cloud really did have Zack's every move memorized and partial surprise that Aerith was actually that vocal. "Don't worry…they're almost done. Here you go. I can't believe this is our first date and I'm giving you macaroni and cheese out of a box and listening to our friends fuck like crazy. We should have just gone out somewhere. " Cloud said handing a fork to Tifa. She laughed.

"Don't worry about it. You know, some people have to go rent their pornos but you have your very own live show."

"There are times when I wonder if the people who live in unit B can hear them. But anyway, try the macaroni and tell me how you like it? You want something to drink?" Cloud asked her.

"Yeah, I'll take something and it's great…it's really great." It wasn't three minutes later a sweaty and barely dressed Aerith emerged from Zack's bedroom. Aerith gasped excitedly.

"Tifa! Tifa! Tifa! Tifa's here!" Aerith ran over to Tifa and flung her arms around Tifa.

"Hi Aerith…could you…maybe take a shower before you hug me? I kind of…know where you've been." Tifa said a bit unenthused that Aerith had her sweaty body up against Tifa.

"Oh my god! Iced tea, thank you so much!" Aerith said taking the glasses of tea Cloud had poured for he and Tifa. "Ooooh and you cooked too! Thank you Cloud, you're so sweet!" Aerith said taking the plate of macaroni out of Cloud's hand that he had dished out for himself. Aerith quickly swiped up Cloud's fork too, putting all of this on a tray she had pulled out from a cabinet underneath the stove. "Oh wow…this is so good. It's all creamy and stuff. Tifa, how long have you been here? Have you tried this stuff?" Aerith asked her. "Hey, are you going to be here long? I'll so be out to talk to you later. Me and Zack have been sick half the day today but we're feeling pretty good now. Listen, I wish I could stay and eat this with you two but I told Zack I would be right back with some water. Oh! This is going to be such a surprise when I walk in with this!" Aerith said. "Okay, I'll catch up with you later Tifa!" Aerith said taking the tray and leaving the room just as quickly as she had entered it.

Cloud stood there in the kitchen with the most confused of looks on his face. Tifa laughed at him. Cloud blinked a few times. "What the hell just happened here!" Tifa laughed harder. "One minute I'm standing here with two glasses of tea and the next minute Aerith walks in and takes everything! Tifa, this is the worst first date in the history of first dates." Cloud said getting another two glasses out of the cabinet and repeating everything he had just done thirty seconds ago.

"It could be a lot worse. Remember the one fight that those two had that you and I were caught right in the middle of?" Tifa asked. Cloud sat down with Tifa finally. He rolled his eyes.

"That…was…bullshit. Aerith wouldn't admit that she was too needy and Zack wouldn't admit that he was too flirty. Then the shit really hit the fan when Cissnei came over here and made a horrible attempt at fixing everything." Cloud said remembering the one hell of a fight Zack and Aerith had in the course of their relationship.

"Aerith whined and whined and whined. I think that was the only time she has ever actually threatened to leave Zack." Tifa said. "I got so tired of her when all that happened."

"Tell me about it. Our phone line was tied up for hours on end with Zack trying to prove to Aertih there was nothing going on with him and Cissnei and then he would turn around and call Cissnei to tell her she had to stop calling him before Aerith flipped. Now, you and I? We're never going to do that shit because you are nothing like Aerith and unlike Zack, I'm really shy and I've always had eyes for one woman. She's sitting across from me right now in case you wondered." Cloud said. Tifa smiled.

"Is that why you've never gone out with any of the girls Zack has tried to get you to go out with including Cissnei?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah…it's always been you." Cloud confessed.

"It's always been you too. I'm sorry I never told you sooner. It's just…well I'm shy too." Tifa said. "I'll admit I am shy…but unlike Aerith…I put out on the first date." Cloud's eyes met hers.

"Well you know, Aerith could use some competition around here." He said.

"What you do will depend on whether or not I outdo her…but I'm confident that you'll be a hell of a lot better than Zack could even think of being." Tifa answered. Talk about a compliment…


	3. This Time is For Real

Tifa let her body fall backwards into Cloud's bed. "Oh my god you're bed is amazing." Tifa had forgotten how tired she was from working a longer than usual shift today. "I could just fall asleep here tonight." Tifa said.

"You should." Cloud said.

"Yeah? Well, I'd need to go home and get some things." Tifa said pushing herself up on her elbows. She watched him as he stood at the foot of his bed.

"Yeah, stay here tonight. You don't need anything; we have lots of girl stuff, trust me." Cloud said. Tifa laughed. "Come on, stay here with me. Zack and Aerith are doing something tomorrow which means it'll just be you and me. You don't work tomorrow, right? We can do whatever the hell we want because I don't report in again until Monday." Cloud said.

"You tempt me. Alright, I'll stay." Tifa said. Before Cloud could say anything there was a lot of noise coming from the living room.

"Oh my god….they're watching a movie out there. Now we have to put up with that." Cloud said.

"No we don't. Last night you said next time is for real…so we'll make now next time. Tifa said. It was bold and it was honest. She actually hadn't been that honest with Cloud before. Cloud closed the blinds of his windows. Even though it was dark, there was still enough light from the streets to see everything in this room. Cloud threw himself on his bed beside Tifa and turned on his TV to compete with whatever Zack and Aerith were watching.

"Can I tell you something? I haven't stopped thinking about you today." Cloud said.

"Likewise. Maybe that's why today felt like such a long day." Tifa rolled over to her side and let her fingers rest in untamed blond hair. "So, who has the nicer room here you or Zack?" she wondered.

"At 1700 gil a month plus utilities you would think that both bedrooms would be equally desirable but that isn't the case. This one is actually the nicer of the two. The room itself is bigger and the closet is actually double. This bathroom is also a lot bigger than the other one. The thing is…this room isn't mine much longer. Zack talked me into switching with him because Aerith…and I quote him directly, needs the nicer room for her stuff. Like that stupid chair over there; see that fancy chair thing in the corner over? That stupid chair initiated this room switch." Cloud said rolling over closer to Tifa and putting his hand on her stomach. She put her hand on his.

"Well, it's a pretty chair…I guess." Tifa said.

"Exactly, it's pretty and it does nothing and Aerith stuck it in here so I pile it up with clothes because I have no idea what its purpose is and neither does Zack. She says you don't sit on it because it's for looking. I don't get it, Tifa! Why the hell does she have a fucking chair you can't even use! I love Aerith so much…she is so sweet and kind…but my god…I've had a completely useless chair in my room for three weeks and it's causing me to lose this room!" Cloud ranted. Tifa laughed and brought Cloud's hand to her lips.

"She gave me a giant plate that you're not supposed to ever eat on or put in the dishwasher. It's just to display in the window." Tifa said. Cloud couldn't say anything in response to that because of the knock at the door. He sighed and let his face hit Tifa's stomach where his hand once was.

"Zack won't open it but Aerith will." Cloud mumbled into her stomach.

"Hey! Hey, Cloud! Can I get some money out of your wallet? We're ordering Chinese do you want anything?" Zack yelled through the door.

"I'll fix this." Tifa said pushing Cloud off of her and going to the door. She opened the door slightly.

"There's money in my purse, get whatever you want and no we don't want anything." Tifa said closing the door in Zack's face without another word. She locked the door behind her. "There we go." Tifa returned to her spot beside Cloud. He was more than amused.

"That was brilliant." He said leaning over Tifa and kissing her. Tifa's hands felt skilled even though she wasn't as her fingers slid through smooth blond hair and over Cloud's shoulders. Tifa could feel Cloud unbutton the next button of her blouse. It was incredibly sexy as she lay there with her bra peeking out of her shirt and Cloud looming over her. Tifa rested her arms above her head. Cloud unbuttoned another button on Tifa's shirt. There was only one more to go as he traced his fingertips further down the edge of the cotton blouse.

"How many men have you been with?" Cloud whispered as blond hair tickled Tifa's nose.

"None. But I should tell you…I've spent plenty of time thinking about you and…" Tifa lowered her voice but before she could finish that sentence Cloud put his hand over her mouth.

"Oh don't say it…I'm picturing every bit of it right now…you…alone…and…oh shit Tifa." Cloud said. Tifa smiled. Cloud unbuttoned her blouse the rest of the way and put his hands on her bare stomach. Tifa moaned as she felt Cloud's hands trace every curve of her. He wondered if he would be able to touch her sober the way he had touched her drunk. It turns out he could. Tifa leaned up slightly so Cloud could take her blouse off, leaving her wearing her black satin bra. Tifa didn't flinch as Cloud traced his fingers over Tifa's beautiful cleavage.

"What about you? You kiss like you've done it before…what else have you done before?" Tifa asked taking Cloud's hands and moving them over her breasts.

"Since I've been waiting on you all this time I've only been fucking myself." Cloud admitted to her.

"That's hot…maybe if I'm lucky you'll let me watch sometime." Tifa kissed him hard this time. Somehow Cloud managed to get his hands behind her back. Peeling her shirt had been easy; resisting the temptation to tear into her would be the hard part. Cloud wasn't at all shy about putting his hands all over Tifa, moving his palms down her ribs, over her hips and to her thighs. He would have touched her more except Cloud realized he was dressed much more than she was. He had to equal her at this point. It didn't take him long to drop his t-shirt on top of Tifa's that was now laying on the floor beside his bed. Tifa hungered to get her hands on Cloud which wasn't too hard considering he still hovered over her. He wasn't ready for the way she pulled his body down against hers; her hips pushing in to his.

There was something skillful in the way Tifa moved her hands across Cloud's bare skin only to unbutton his pants. She would have gone further except for the fact that Cloud got her message and did the rest for her. Her fingers teased the edge of his boxers but she didn't dare strip him down any further. She put one leg over Cloud's shoulder. It made it that much easier for him to slide his hands up her leg and pull her black leg warmer down from her thigh. Her legs were smooth and god did they feel long and lean. For little while Cloud thought about leaving her skirt on…only her skirt…but he had changed his mind and decided it would be much better if she were naked.

There was another knock at the door. "Hey! Hey, Cloud the Chinese is here! Do you want some of it now?" Zack yelled through the door. Cloud hadn't looked this pissed at Zack in ages. Tifa had managed to unhook her bra and now she was handing it to Cloud and pointing at the door. She made a throwing motion but Cloud was a hell of a lot distracted right now. He did as Tifa was motioning. The rackety thud seemed to send a message to Zack. "Okay, so that's a maybe?" Zack said. It was quiet after that.

"How did you know that would work?" Cloud asked Tifa.

"Cloud, it's a 34D…it can make some noise." Tifa said moving his hands to her now naked breasts.

"Holy shit…" Cloud's words were barely audible. He was surprisingly relaxed with it being the first time he had ever touched Tifa like this. Of course, she was easy to be around….even when she was naked with her legs spread. Tifa's already soaked panties were the next thing to come off with her skirt being the last. Cloud reached over her and toward the nightstand beside his bed. He had condoms in this drawer that he had put there earlier that day but he hadn't remembered to actually lay them out where he could get them.

"What are you looking at?" Cloud asked.

"You." Tifa said. Her voice was low and lusty. "You're sexy."

"Not nearly as sexy as you are." Cloud told her finally throwing the rest of his clothes in the pile beside his bed. Tifa helped herself. Cloud hadn't expected her touch be so…wow. In fact, he had to move her tender palm away from him. Cloud's breath was already heavy as he watched her. "Now give Zack something he can _really_ come back here and knock on the door about." Cloud said pushing Tifa's legs a little wider apart.

She smiled and let her body relax. She had 'practiced' plenty by herself so this very moment wouldn't hurt like hell. She bit her lower lip…she could feel him…all of him. Tifa let her arms rest on Cloud's shoulders. It was apparent to him by the look in her eyes that he didn't have to worry about hurting her. Her sweet sigh was irresistible and already breathless as she dug her fingertips hard into Cloud.


	4. Weaknesses

Despite the fact that Zack and Aerith had slept most of the day from being sick; they still managed to go to bed by 1:30 AM. Aerith had barely gotten to sleep, in fact the TV hadn't yet turned off from its sleep timer, when she was suddenly awoken by a loud thump on the wall opposite from her bed. She sat straight up in the bed, pulling the covers up around her.

"Zack…Zack what is that?" Aerith said sleepily as she yawned and shook Zack's shoulder. He didn't immediately wake. "Zaaaack!" Aerith shook him harder. Zack woke a bit frantically.

"Hmmm? What? What happened?" Zack said not completely waking up.

"Did you hear that? What is that?" Aerith repeated.

"What's what, Aerith?" Zack mumbled smashing his face into his pillow. It was hard telling who could be heard more clearly…Cloud or Tifa but the muffled sound of their deeply passionate wail was all Zack needed to hear to know what Aerith was talking about.

"Ooooooooh my god." Zack said weakly.

"What? What?" Aerith demanded.

"Hoooooly shit…I didn't think he'd actually go through with it. My god…he must be doing something right." Zack said turning the TV off, too impatient to wait on the timer.

"What are you talking about?" Aerith said lying back down beside Zack.

"Cloud just got laid…like a lot." Zack said trying to fall asleep again. Aerith gasped to herself realizing just now that Tifa had never _actually_ gone home from the much earlier time Aerith had seen her.

"What! No…you don't think…did he sleep with Tifa?" Aerith asked still a bit confused. Her confusion could be blamed on the hangover.

"Yes, he slept with Tifa. He told me all about finally breaking all the horrible sexual tension with her yesterday." Zack mumbled.

"Tifa never told me anything!" Aerith whined.

"I'll tell you all the details later. This all just happened." Zack said.

"Well…I'm going over there and…" Zack cut Aerith off.

"No, you're not. Cloud will absolutely go berserk on you if you go knocking on that door. He's already gonna go fuckin' crazy on me because I forgot and pounded on his door twice." Zack said still mumbling.

"But this isn't fair at all! I need to know what the hell is going on! Tifa has never even let on that she liked Cloud that way." Aerith whined again.

"Aerith…oh my god…I love you so much…but please, please don't do this. You cannot have your way right now. If you care anything about your friend you will go to sleep and let her get some." Zack said.

"Fine." Aerith pouted and let her head hit her pillow. As far as she was concerned this was far from over.

In the neighboring room, Cloud was sweating all over and both he and Tifa were panting like parched dogs. Tifa's hands shook as she held on to Cloud's face. Cloud's entire body shook. This wasn't the first time…it was the third and it was proof they didn't need much practice to be good at this.

"Oh my god…oooooh my god…oooooooh" Tifa uttered breathlessly. Her entire body was surging with intense waves of euphoria.

"That was…" Cloud couldn't breathe any better than Tifa could. She put her arms around his shoulders motioning for him to relax the weight of his body into her. He sighed deeply and sunk into her sweaty body.

"…good…" Tifa finished his sentence for him softly.

"…so good…so, so good…" Cloud panted into her collar bone. She could feel his out of control pulse against her own.

"My god…" Tifa repeated faintly. Cloud managed to rise up slightly on weakened arms and looked at Tifa. He kissed her before he said anything but as Cloud looked into her lovesick eyes he didn't remember what he wanted to say to her. He laid his head back down on her collar bone.

"Tifa?" Cloud finally questioned.

"Mmm?" Tifa had just managed to regain her breath.

"Let's go take a shower." Cloud said. It was a brilliant idea. "Then we'll go see what Zack and Aerith left us from their takeout order." They both could use a shower right now and so despite how weak they were; they got up and headed for Cloud's bathroom. The light was harsh compared to the soft and faint light of Cloud's bedroom. "Do you want to wash your hair?" Cloud asked her turning on the hot water.

"I don't guess I need to." Tifa said.

"What if I said I want to do it for you? I mean…is that okay?" Cloud was kind of embarrassed to ask her this but he wasn't sure why.

"Sure, you can." Tifa said smiling. She stepped in the shower and let the hot water cascade over her. Cloud put his arms around her pulled her body backwards closer to him.

"It's not fair that you're nearly as tall as I am. Zack has at least four inches on Aerith." Cloud said letting sweet smelling shampoo permeate its way into Tifa's hair. She leaned backwards into him as she felt Cloud's fingers roam through her wet hair.

"You're funny sometimes. I love that I can look you in the eye instead of looking up at you." Tifa said.

"Yeah well…it's still not fair." Cloud said. "You have nice hair." Cloud spun her around so Tifa was facing him. She tilted her head back under the running water to rinse the shampoo. She held on to Cloud's wet shoulders as the water rinsed her hair clean. There was something so soothing about being in the shower with him. She let her wet body slink up against his. They had come a hell of a long way in 24 hours. Had they not been weak all over they likely could have fooled around here under the streaming water…but that would have to wait for another day. Tifa squeezed a loofa of soapy water all over Cloud before he traded her places and rinsed himself clean. His body was even more brilliant than Tifa had originally thought. Cloud reached behind Tifa and turned the water off.

"Be careful, the floor sometimes gets sick. Zack learned that the hard way once, it was funny as hell." Cloud said. Tifa laughed and took Cloud's hand that was outstretched to her as he stepped out in front of her. He pulled her wet naked body into his. His kiss was just as hot as the steam the shower had created in this bathroom.

"You shouldn't spoil me like that." Tifa said as Cloud pulled away from her long enough to hand her a towel. His towels smelled good, they smelled like him…or maybe it was the other way around. In any case, Tifa buried her nose in the soft cotton before drying her hair.

"Tifa, you haven't even given me a chance to spoil you…that's nothing." Cloud said opening up a cabinet above the sink. Tifa blushed. She had never been spoiled in her life and she sure as hell didn't expect Cloud to go out of his way for her. He wrapped a towel around his waist. "Come on; let's go see what Aerith and Zack left us." Cloud took her hand again after Tifa had wrapped a towel around her. The coolness from the bedroom was quite the contrast from the heat of the bathroom. The apartment was dark as they walked into the kitchen. Tifa let her hands roam soft skin as she stood behind Cloud touching him. She looked over his shoulder as he opened up the refrigerator. She didn't oppose to Cloud pulling out the three mystery boxes to see what was inside.

"How would you like me to help you?" Tifa asked still letting her fingertips tease their way over Cloud's skin.

"Kiss me." Cloud said. He didn't have to ask Tifa twice. She did exactly that. Cloud had to put everything down in his hands so he could put his arms around her. "That was perfect." He said pushing wet hair behind her ears. "Now, you can get me a fork in that drawer over there." Tifa let go of Cloud so she could go dig in the drawer. It would have been easier to turn a light on, but the faint light that streamed in the kitchen window from the streetlights outside would have to do for now. Cloud put a little bit of everything on the plates in front of him and shoved one plate in the microwave. "Now will you do something else for me?" Cloud asked.

"I already kissed you…should I go down on you now?" Tifa asked as seriously as she could without laughing.

"What!" Cloud asked knowing exactly what she said but a little surprised by what he heard.

"I mean, do you need a paper towel?" Tifa asked handing one over and smiling.

"Thanks. What I was _going_ to ask you is if you will get us something to drink and take it back to my room. I'll be there in just a minute." Cloud said.

"Of course I'll do that." Tifa said. She did as Cloud asked her that and disappeared knowing Cloud would be close behind her. Tifa left the towel wrapped around her as she rearranged the pillows on the bed for her and Cloud. She could hear his bedroom door close as he handed a plate over to her.

"Thanks, this looks good even though it's warmed over." Tifa said waiting for him to come join her in his bed.

"Have I told you how good you are? I mean…you're amazing…Tifa." Cloud said sitting close to her. She smiled.

"I'm only as good as the man I'm with." Tifa winked at him. "So, you coming to the Shin-Ra Social at the bar next week?" she took a bite of the noodles on her plate.

"Well, I am now. Zack has been talking about that and…well, I'm normally not one for parties or social events but things are different now than it was a week ago. I think I can go and I'll be comfortable as long as you're there." Cloud said.

"You can sit at the bar and drink all night if you want. Me and two other girls are working and you can talk to me while I'm behind the bar." Tifa said. Cloud smiled.

"I could do that. Besides, someone has to be there to protect you from the drunk and horny bar flies that will be there…and believe me….there are plenty in Shin-Ra." Cloud said. It wasn't about protecting Tifa, it was his nervousness that so many other men would be around her. He knew she was his and she would make that quite clear. Cloud didn't have the jealous nature that Aerith slipped in to at times but nonetheless he felt like he needed to be with her when this event rolled around.

"Please, Cloud. Do you know how many horny drunks I deal with all the time?" Tifa said laughing.

"I know, I know…you don't need me to take care of you…and you are completely independent which is why it's even more flattering to me that you are going to introduce me to people as your boyfriend." Cloud said. He was right. Tifa didn't _need_ a boyfriend. She was strong enough to stand on her own two feet and she sure as hell didn't need a man to validate her. But Cloud was the only man that had ever made her melt.

"Well, I appreciate your added protection. It should be a pretty fun night. There will be tons of Shin-Ra people there and it is going to be a huge money maker for me. I found a dress for Aerith to wear; it's this…awful color of pink. She'll like it I think but I hate the color." Tifa said.

"It's pink?" Cloud asked. Tifa shook her head yes.

"You know that if Aerith likes it and wears it we won't be able to keep Zack off of her." Cloud said. Tifa looked at him curiously. "He's got this thing with pink. I mean it's weird. You know how a lot of men beg their wives or girlfriends to wear something black to bed?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah." Tifa answered.

"Well, in Zack's strange world….it's pink and it applies to every facet of anything Aerith wears." Cloud explained.

"Wait…is that why she freaked the hell out when Zack told Cissnei she looked nice in pink?"

"Yes, exactly. But she doesn't understand that its Zack's weird pink thing…he would complement Sephiroth if he were wearing something pink. It's not about the person…it's about the color…and it's so freaking weird. It is actually a major weakness with him and I have no clue why." Tifa laughed as she took a bite of what appeared to be kung pao chicken.

"So what's yours?" Tifa asked.

"My what?" Cloud questioned.

"What's your weakness? Zack has his strange sensual attraction to pink, so what's yours?" Tifa wanted to know. Cloud laughed a bit and turned pink.

"I've slept with you three times…I can't tell you that...I'll be honest I'm too embarrassed to tell you anyway." Cloud admitted.

"Why? Is it something weird and kinky like the thought of me dripping hot candle wax all over you? Is it something that makes Zack's pink thing look boring?" Tifa asked. Cloud laughed again.

"No, no, no, no. It' nothing at all like that. In fact, it's a lot closer to Zack's boring pink weakness." He said.

"Then why won't you tell me! I'll tell you mine _and_ Aerith's." Tifa bargained. Cloud thought that was funny.

"Aerith's weakness is a man in uniform. Believe me…I never needed to know that but when you walk in and she's talking filthy to Zack…well its things I never ever wanted to hear. So, no deal Tifa, no deal." Cloud said. TIfa laughed again.

"I'll find out…not today, not tomorrow, but I will. And I'll do whatever it is." Tifa threatened as her face lit up.


	5. Blonds Have More Fun

"Zack! Come on are you ready yet? Me and Cloud have been ready for 20 minutes!" Aerith yelled into their bedroom as she tugged at the fabric of her dress.

"I'll be there in a minute! I can't find my wallet!" Zack yelled back. Even Cloud was irritated that Zack had been fumbling around and taking forever. It had been a little over a week ago that Cloud and Tifa had become an official couple. The thing was that no one at Shin-Ra knew about this yet. The two other bartenders Tifa worked with knew simply because they were too nosey about why Tifa smiled every time she got a text message. Zack finally emerged. Naturally, he had already fallen in love with Aerith's pink dress and he was going to make sure he held on to her all night. It was 7:30 PM. This Shin-Ra social started nearly an hour ago but they were just now leaving the apartment.

"Are you going to Tifa's tonight or is she coming here?" Zack asked.

"I don't know yet, why?" Cloud asked finally managing to get Zack out the door.

"If she's coming by here after we all leave tonight we can take this bag and bring her stuff back for her later since she has to work until 2:00." Zack said.

"It's a good thought, take it just in case." Cloud said closing the door behind him. He felt a little jittery and nervous and he had no clue why. Maybe it was because this was a large Shin-Ra event that he originally had no intentions of attending anyway because there would be so many people. Or it may have been because he had never actually been in a situation where people would actually know Tifa was his girlfriend. It was nerve-wracking to him because as far as Cloud was concerned Tifa was out of his league. They had gone out in public together but no one in Shin-Ra really _knew_ Cloud was seeing someone. He never talked about that kind of thing at work unlike Zack who never shut the hell up about him and Aerith. Cloud could already tell by the way Zack held on to Aerith that this night was going to end in Zack's hands up her dress for everyone in the bar to see.

Zack and Aerith talked most of the short walk to the bar. "Are you okay? You're so quiet?" Zack questioned Cloud as they approached the line of Shin-Ra personnel standing outside the '7th Heaven' bar.

"I'm fine…I'm fine." Cloud answered him.

"You just seem nervous that's all." Zack said holding on to Aerith's hand as they stood in the Shin-Ra line to have their invitations validated.

"I am nervous, but I was hoping it didn't show that much." Cloud said. Zack hit him on the back.

"Once Tifa gets a drink or two in you, you'll be fine. Why the hell are you nervous? You will know plenty of people here."

"It's not that really. No one knows about me and Tifa except you and Aerith and a couple people Tifa works with." Cloud said.

"So?" Zack answered waving to another Shin-Ra SOLDIER he had seen many times roaming around on the 2nd floor of the Shin-Ra building.

"So! It's Tifa, Zack. It's not like I'm dating some…average looking girl….it's Tifa." Cloud said.

"Hmmm…that is a good point. Tifa's a hell of a lot hotter than you are…but don't worry she seems to like it when you're in her so I'd she's not going to be interested in any other guy here tonight." Zack slapped Cloud on the back and ran up ahead in the line to talk to someone Cloud didn't recognize. Cloud just sighed.

"That's not what I'm worried about." He mumbled to no one. The line was moving slowly because there were so many Shin-Ra employees but they were approaching the door.

"So how long is this thing supposed to last?" Aerith asked Cloud.

"I think the party goes on until 3:30 or 4:00." Cloud said.

"I'm not staying here a minute past 2:00. I'll be drunk and sleepy by 11:00." Aerith said. Zack had returned before Cloud could say anything and grabbed Cloud and Aerith by the arm and drug them to the front of the line.

"Check it out, Cissnei is going to let us go in with her. It will piss all the other 4th class SOLDIER folks off but who cares!" Zack said shoving Cloud and Aerith toward Cissnei. The truth was Cloud felt a little out of place here….he wasn't even in SOLDIER…but this was a Shin-Ra event, right? You didn't _have_ to be in SOLDIER and you didn't _have_ to be a Turk but it certainly made things a little easier if you were. Maybe that was another reason Cloud was nervous about this night…he was one of the lowest ranking Shin-Ra employees here tonight. Hardly any infantry members would attend simply because they were infantry and as far as Cloud was concerned Tifa couldn't be seen with a member of the infantry. She deserved to be with a SOLDIER 1st Class like Zack and what Cloud was really nervous about was Tifa being seen with an infantryman. Finally! The true root cause of why Cloud was so nervous.

There were so many people in here tonight. It was standing room only and the atmosphere was loud. Cloud wondered how the hell he would ever manage to get up to the bar to let Tifa know that he, Zack and Aerith had arrived.

"Come on! Let's go tell Tifa we're here!" Zack yelled at Cloud.

"What?" Cloud yelled back at him. Zack shook his head and lead Cloud through the crowd, followed by Aerith. Once they had waded through the sea of people they had managed to make it to the bar which was so full there was hardly a place to squeeze in. Zack held up an arm and waved at Tifa once he caught sight of her. Zack changed direction toward the end of the bar; it seemed Tifa was directing him that way.

"You made it! I'm swamped right now. Here, I've been saving this barstool for an hour and a half. Hold on…." Tifa said quickly to Zack as she ran off to the other end of the bar.

"Wow!" Zack said to Cloud.

"What?" Cloud questioned him.

"You mean you didn't _see_ your girl just now. I would never cheat on Aerith but she makes _me_ want to cheat on Aerith she looks so amazing right now." Zack said. There was a deluge of people in front of Cloud so it was no wonder he hadn't seen Tifa. "Get up here, get up here!" Zack grabbed Cloud and shoved him in front of the bar. It was superb timing. Tifa's face lit up when she saw Cloud.

"This barstool is for you. It wasn't easy to come by but I wasn't going to let anyone else sit here." If Cloud hadn't been lost in the trance Tifa had just put him in he would have lunged forward and kissed her before another one of the bartenders yelled for her. Tifa sighed. "I'm sorry…I'll be right back." Tifa touched Cloud's hand and ran off again. Cloud slumped weakly onto the bar stool as Aerith hovered in close beside him. Zack moved in close beside Cloud on the opposite side of him. Cloud hadn't said anything now for at least thirty seconds. Zack put his hand on Cloud's back, noticing Cloud's eyes still fixed on Tifa who was working manically at the opposite side of the bar.

"Hey…just start thinking about Lazard giving mission orders and that problem you have right now will…go back down." Zack said patting Cloud on the back hard again. Cloud snapped back to his senses and turned his head toward Zack.

"Okay first…Lazard? Lazard? You talk like you've done that before." Cloud said.

"Yeah, I have…works every time. Lazard is the unsexiest thing I can think of." Zack said. Cloud smiled and laughed to himself.

"Zack….you're so weird sometimes." Cloud admitted.

"Hey! Hey! It worked didn't it? You're thinking about Lazard and not thinking about pulling the frayed ends of Tifa's short, short jean skirt. My god does she have a set of legs on her…don't you dare tell Aerith I said that." Zack said softly. It wasn't just Tifa's short skirt, it was also the way her tight white shirt squeezed every curve of her. She had a small black apron-like smock tied around her waist that actually hung slightly longer than her skirt. Nothing about her was revealing…but everything about her was sexy. She made the other three girls working with her look like dogs.

"Alright, here you go!" Tifa returned with her hands full. She shoved something in front of Aerith first and then Cloud and finally Zack. "Hurry fast, I have to get back to work and I waited until you all got here before I started drinking." Tifa said holding up her own shot glass.

"What is this?" Zack asked.

"Does it matter? It's going to get you drunk after only three it's so strong." Tifa said.

"Then here's to me drinking too much and being very inappropriate with Aerith in public." Zack said. Aerith laughed.

"Yeah…okay….to that!" Tifa said clanging his shot glass into Cloud's. It made him smile, he may have even turned a little pink. Once the first shot was gone Tifa went away to get them something that would last a lot longer: long island iced tea for Aerith, beer for Zack and something special for Cloud. She wasn't gone long.

"My god you work fast." Aerith said.

"Yes I do Aerith, yes I do. Look at this, there are at least fifty Shin-Ra employees lined up along this bar; I have to work fast." Tifa said.

"Well, thanks. Me and Zack are going to go talk to some people but we'll be back later." Aerith said as Zack tugged her away with one hand and managed to not spill a tall glass of beer all over Cloud. Once they had disappeared into the crowd Tifa smiled at Cloud and leaned over against the bar.

"What you have there is what I'm best at making around here." Tifa said.

"Yeah? What is it?" Cloud asked her.

"Tequila sunrise. A lot of tequila and a little bit of some other crap." Tifa smiled. Cloud laughed at her and tried it. It was tart, sour…delicious. "I'm glad you're here." Tifa said taking Cloud's hand in hers. That relaxed Cloud like crazy and he wasn't sure why her touch was such a relief.

"I'm glad to be here." Cloud said. Tifa heard her name being called again at the opposite side of the bar. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I've gotta get back to work. You don't pay anything tonight, it's on Shin-Ra so tell me and I'll get you whatever you want." Tifa said before hurrying to the other side of the bar.

"What do you need?" Tifa asked one of the other bartenders that had yelled at her from the ice cooler.

"Is that him?" she asked Tifa. Tifa smiled and blushed a little.

"Yeah, that's him." She answered her fellow bartender.

"Wow…nicely done Tifa." She said to Tifa. This conversation was cut short when the other bartender grabbed three beers in one hand and headed back to the bar. Tifa asked another three Shin-Ra employees what they were drinking. At the rate things were going there was no time to pause even for a minute.

"Hey, sorry I couldn't really talk to you earlier. I can't believe you actually came to this thing. You never come to any Shin-Ra stuff." Cissnei said to Cloud as she squeezed her way through the crowd to get to the bar area. It was strange seeing Cissnei wearing a ruffley top and jeans. Cloud had never seen her in anything other than her Turk uniform. "What are you drinking? Maybe I want whatever you have." Cissnei said. Cloud smiled at her.

"Tifa made it, she's says it's her specialty." Cloud said.

"Do you know Tifa? I know that she works here and I know her only a little otherwise." Cissnei said.

"Yeah, yeah…I know her. I've known her a while." Cloud said stumbling over his words a bit. Tifa hurried back over to the end of the bar where Cloud was.

"Hey Cissnei, what are you drinking tonight?" Tifa said pulling a napkin from her small apron and plopping it in front of Cissnei. She lined up four more napkins in front of the four guys that were sitting beside Cissnei. Cloud didn't recognize any of them.

"I want whatever Cloud is having." Cissnei said.

"Very well." Tifa said. She put her hands on Cloud's. What about you?"

"I'm okay for now." Cloud reassured her. Tifa let her fingertips glide over Cloud's arms before she hurried away again. Cissnei thought for a moment.

"Oh my god…you're…you're 'with her', with her aren't you? Oh my god Cloud! How long have you two been seeing each other?" Cissnei asked leaning over and squeezing Cloud's shoulders. Cloud smiled nervously.

"Not long." Cloud answered her. He didn't add any detail.

"That is just delightful. Zack hasn't said anything about you having a girlfriend." Cissnei said. Tifa returned with her signature drink for Cissnei.

"There you go. Drink it slowly, I made it strong just for you." Tifa said.

"Thank you. I'll catch up to you two later. I have to go bother the other Turks I work with." Cissnei said taking the drink Tifa had made and wading back into the crowd. Tifa didn't have a chance to say anything else to Cloud. She had to get back to work. As he sat there at the bar; Cloud spun around to comb the crowd. He caught sight of Zack with Aerith on one arm. The other SOLDIER 1st class members thought Aerith was beautiful and frankly, she wallowed in the attention she always got from Zack's friends. Zack knew so many people and he could seemingly talk to anyone even if he didn't know them. As far as Cloud was concerned Zack had almost everything that Cloud didn't…he was SOLDIER 1st class, he oozed personality, and Zack never took anything too seriously. Cloud feared that if he didn't make SOLDIER 1st class Tifa wouldn't stick around. All he wanted was to impress her and he wondered what the hell would happen if he couldn't do it. Cloud's thoughts were interrupted by a Shin-Ra officer nudging his shoulder and the fact that he had mindlessly emptied his glass.

"Hey, sorry man. Do I know you?" this guy was obviously well wasted.

"Yeah, you have an office that's three doors down where the infantrymen report each day." Cloud said.

"Oh….okay. I'm going to tell you something…see the really dark brunette that's pretty much working her fine ass off over there? I….would hit that." This officer was obviously talking about Tifa. Cloud smiled.

"You would, huh?" he said.

"Like you wouldn't believe." The officer said.

"Well…why don't you…go for it…you know…get her over here and…see what or…_who_…she's doing later?" Cloud said chewing on an ice cube. Oh, it was absolutely brilliant.

"THAT….is a great idea!" the officer said. This was going to be good. It didn't take long for Tifa to appear at the request of this drunk beside Cloud.

"What can I get you?" Tifa asked the man.

"It's not what you can get me…it's what you can give me. What time do you get off tonight?" he said. Tifa aimlessly wiped the bar counter in front of him.

"Let's just cut through the crap right now because I am really busy…I'm fucking the blond sitting beside you. Oh, and I expect a tip for my time." Tifa looked at Cloud and smiled before walking away. He smiled back at her quickly. The officer sat there with the most shocked of looks on his face.

"Oooh, I'm sorry! Did I….did I set you up for that? My fault man, I'm so drunk I forgot I was sleeping with her." Cloud said sarcastically chewing on another ice cube. He wasn't the slightest bit drunk. It was a shame Zack missed that, he would be laughing like crazy right now and poor Aerith would be mortified. It was no time when the Shin-Ra officer beside Cloud got up and left. One of the bartenders came over to Cloud.

"I'm Shay. I work here with Tifa. She wanted me to bring you this." The bartender shoved something in front of Cloud. She had made him something else. Cloud smiled at her, though it was reserved in nature.

"Thank you." He said. Shay smiled at Cloud.

"You um…you're pretty…." Shay said quickly before walking away. Cloud shifted his eyes toward the bar. She obviously knew about him otherwise she probably wouldn't have said that. Cloud watched her walk away. She had nothing on Tifa. Shay was a petite blond and as far as Cloud was concerned…blonds were over-rated…Tifa didn't think so.

"I'm so sorry. I have ignored you since the minute you got here." Tifa said pulling up a barstool in front of Cloud and interrupting his analysis.

"No! No, no, no, Tifa. You haven't at all. You've been…crazy busy." Cloud said putting his glass down and taking her hands in his. "You um…you look unbelievable tonight. I'm sorry that a woman as sexy as you are has to not only be seen with an infantryman. But, that you also have to work in this rowdy crowd tonight." Cloud kissed the back of her hand quickly.

"Can I ask you something kind of weird? What if I never make SOLDIER? What if I'm working for Shin-Ra five years from now and I still haven't made SOLDIER?" Cloud asked her honestly.

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked taking a drink of what Shay had just brought to Cloud.

"I'll never be Zack will I?" he asked Tifa. "What if I don't make it in to SOLDIER?"

"So what if you don't make SOLDIER? You know Cloud, that group isn't as elite as they are made out to be. Don't you ever tell Zack I said that." Tifa said laughing.

"But what about you? You're with an infantryman Tifa…you're not with a SOLDIER member." Cloud said. Tifa looked at Cloud with almost shocked eyes.

"Cloud, why are you in the infantry? Why do you want to be in SOLDIER so badly? Don't do it for me. Do it for you! Do it because you want it for you. I'm not with you because you're roommate is a Shin-Ra elite and I'm banking on you doing the same so I can be Aerith and let everyone know I'm sleeping with a SOLDIER 1st class. Well, okay she doesn't tell _everyone_…but still. Fuck SOLDIER Cloud. I'm…I'm with you because…because you're you." Tifa could feel her palms sweating. She bit her lower lip and her face turned red. She avoided eye contact with Cloud at all costs. She didn't want to tell him that here of all places but there was no steering this conversation. The expression on Cloud's face relaxed again.

"Thank you…Tifa." She smiled and still didn't make eye contact with him. Neither of them said anything for a minute even though Cloud wanted to tell her so much right now…like how she had just made him the happiest man alive and how she had just eased his worried mind more than she would ever know…but the words just weren't there. "Tifa?" Cloud finally questioned.

"Hmmm?" Tifa raised her head up this time.

"You don't…you don't want to dance do you?" Cloud asked her and hoping to god she would say no. Stupid Shin-Ra and their stupid slow songs!

"No." Tifa answered quickly. "I'm too embarrassed." Tifa laughed. Cloud laughed with her.

"Yeah…me too." He said.

"Tifa!" a voice called to her from across the bar. She sighed. "Go on break!" Those were the magic words she had been longing for.

"Oh thank goodness." Tifa said squeezing Cloud's hands. "Come on, none of these SOLDIER members will ever get to do what you're about to do." Tifa said standing up.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.

"Well, Cloud…you've always heard that blonds have more fun right? I'm going to fuck you downstairs." Tifa smiled again and walked around the edge of the bar and pulled Cloud off the barstool.

"Wait what!" Cloud could feel his heart race for her.

My apologies for the super slow update! You have no idea how swamped I've been lately. I will have more free time to update in about 5 days! Thanks for being patient!


	6. The One Up

Tifa untied her heavy black apron and sat it down on the table. It was much quieter down here in the break room even though the floor above Tifa and Cloud vibrated and the bass of the music could still be heard. Tifa's head was ringing from all the hubbub upstairs. "You want to help me count it?" Tifa asked Cloud as her tips from the night spilled across the small table. Her smile was so soothing and warm.

"Sure. My god, Tifa…your apron is loaded over." Cloud said sitting down beside her.

"I'm good at what I do, I guess." Tifa said separating all the coins from the bills. Cloud laughed.

"It's not what you do Tifa…I mean yes, yes…you are good at what you do. But you're making money like this because of what you look like." Cloud said.

"Please! Shay is the one that the guys go after. You saw her, she's beautiful! She has that petite body and that tight ass and that long blond hair. Listen to me; I talk like I want a piece of her." Tifa said counting pile after pile of coins.

"Tifa, none of the women you work with have anything on you. And that's not just me talking…that's every drunk and sober employee here tonight. Just trust me. Besides, blonds are overrated." Cloud said.

"They are, huh?" Tifa smiled and straddled Cloud's lap in his chair. She dug her fingers into soft blond hair. "So, um…how overrated are they?" Tifa's eyes were gentle but lustful. Her touch, her glow, her sweet smell…it all drove Cloud crazy.

"Well they…they aren't…_that_…over…" Cloud forgot what he was going to say; it didn't matter anyway. Tifa sunk her lips into his as her fingertips slipped lightly down his neck. Who would have ever thought Tifa could be this assertive…only with Cloud would she ever be so daring. Cloud let his hands roam her smooth thighs as they crept their way up her skirt. Her skin was delectable and soft. Tifa pulled her lips away from Cloud's.

"If that's what over rated is…then I want more." Tifa said getting up from his lap and wrapping her hand around his. She pulled Cloud up from the chair and lead him over to the breakroom's couch that was situated along one wall facing a small TV. Tifa pushed Cloud backwards and threw her legs over him again She could feel his hands on her waist as she peeled her shirt off. Her nude colored bra had a certain indescribable sexiness to it.

"You were…serious weren't you? About fucking me down here I mean." Cloud said watching her shirt fall to the floor below them.

"Of course I was." Tifa said kissing him again and sliding her hands up his shirt. She couldn't waste any time in stripping him down…she had to be back upstairs sooner than later. This wouldn't last long…not right now anyway…and there was a reason why…Tifa could hear Cloud's breath becoming heavier.

"I've never…I mean…this is a…what if someone walks down here?" Cloud's words conveyed apprehension but his actions of unhooking Tifa's bra and pulling it off her shoulders conveyed eagerness for her.

"Don't worry…the door is locked." Tifa slid off his lap and let her denim skirt fall to the floor. She watched as Cloud didn't take his eyes off her. He dug a hand in to his back pocket without losing his focus on her.

"You don't need that." Tifa said quickly taking the condom in Cloud's hand and pitching it across the room behind her. Cloud's eyes shot wide open.

"What….what…what do you…what do you mean?" It was part panic part 'oh my god you got naked fast' and part fear.

"I know how ever since you and Zack became friends you've tried your hardest to one up him on something….anything. Well…Cloud…darling…the other day when I went to the doctor…I told you I got an allergy shot…it wasn't. It was a birth control shot. We talked about how Aerith wouldn't do that…well…I did. For the record, I tried to get her to go with me but she still refuses so I guess I couldn't convince her the way I thought I could. So…surprise." Tifa said kissing him again. Holy….shit….that was the most unexpected news of the entire day. He didn't oppose to Tifa undressing him further. God this was happening fast…but Tifa had exactly fifteen minutes of her break left.

"Wait…you know…this is going to be really fast…I mean…so….so…because I've never…we've never…" Tifa didn't let Cloud finish.

"Oh I know. That's why our first time without a condom needed to be here…it's just practice for later when we get to my place. I give you thirty seconds." Tifa said smiling sweetly.

"I give me fifteen…you have no idea how insanely…" Cloud didn't even bother. The feeling of Tifa sinking down on him was the most intense thing he had ever felt…and she hadn't even gotten started.

Back upstairs Zack, Aerith, Cissnei, Tseng and two other SOLDIER 1st Class members were outside beside the dumpster in the back of the bar.

"I cannot believe you are letting her smoke a cigarette!" A rather drunk Cissnei scolded Zack.

"Cissnei! You're the one who shoved it in her hand. Besides…she looks beautiful. Hey, hey, hey…have I told you…that Aerith isn't wearing anything at all….under that gorgeous pink dress? We're talking…absolutely nothing…You want to know how I know that?" Zack slurred as he threw an arm over Cissnei's shoulders. He nearly burned her with the cigarette she had shoved in his hand. Cissnei and Tseng shared a closet habit of smoking together and every time they did they were drunk. And every time they were drunk and smoking it never failed that they always drug others into this with them.

"Oh my god I can't believe you just told me that and no I don't want to know how you know. By the way does she still hate me?" Cissnei asked.

"She only hates you when she thinks you're sleeping with me so…right now she doesn't hate you. Look at her Cissnei…she is the hottest woman alive! She's even hotter than you and I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that. Hey, hey…do you want to know…" Cissnei cut Zack off.

"No! No! No! I don't want to know anything. Please tell me nothing else about what Aerith is or isn't wearing and what you may or may not do to her. Just for that I'm going to have to smoke another cigarette." Cissnei said.

"Now, this is like….a totally serious question…those two 1st over there toward the alley. I've seen you talking to the one on the left tonight." Zack said as Aerith walked back over to him. Zack wrapped both arms around her.

"Yeah." Cissnei said blowing a cloud of smoke in front of her and taking Tseng's drink out of his hand.

"She's trying to sleep with him tonight." Tseng said.

"Go to hell Tseng, I hate you." Cissnei said handing his drink back. Zack smiled all over.

"Well, are you?" Zack asked her.

"I might be." Cissnei said trying to fight off her mischievous smile.

"Okay…here's what you do…you like…go grind your ass into him. Every other song they play in here tonight is perfect for that. You want Aerith to show you how to…." Aerith cut Zack off again.

"Noooooo!" Cissnei grumbled at him.

"Oh! I have an even better idea! The rest of us out here will head back inside and you stay out here and blow him behind that other dumpster!" Zack said taking a drag on his cigarette.

"ZAAAAAAAAAACK!" Cissnei yelled at him.

"What! If you're not sure what to do Aerith will show you how to…" Cissnei interrupted him by hitting him in the arm as hard as she could.

"No one is going to blow anyone out here! We'll see what happens later because I just may do the ass thing!" Cissnei said rather loudly.

Cloud had his head resting again the back of the couch as he struggled to catch his breath. That had been the most intense two minutes of his life. This had been messier than either of them had anticipated…but that made it all that much sexier. Tifa kissed Cloud's neck gently as she held his head in her hands. She was so soothing. Why oh why did she have to go back to work in ten minutes? Why couldn't Cloud hold her against him for just a little longer? Cloud managed to put his hand on the side of her face; holding her cheek against his neck.

"You know…my panties are going to be wetter now than they were when I took them off…" Tifa said barely audible. Cloud shut his eyes tightly. That was quite possibly the hottest thing he had ever heard leave her lips.

"I wish you didn't have to go back." Cloud said just as quietly as her voice had been. He wrapped his arms around her holding her warm, naked body against his. His grasp was earnest and needy for her. Cloud never thought the first time doing _this_ would be in the basement of a bar…but he wouldn't have it any other way. This had been the hottest thing he had ever done and it was with Tifa of all people…he wouldn't have wanted it with anyone else…ever. Tifa looked at Cloud with heavy, somewhat sad eyes.

"I should get dressed. It won't be much longer. Just another hour and I'm all yours for the rest of the night." Tifa said. She kissed him again tenderly, lovingly, and sweetly. Cloud shook his head in agreement. Those gentle blue eyes wept with hunger for Tifa.

"I'll hold your tips for you. That way you can go back with an empty apron. You know, you never did count your earnings." Cloud said.

"Yeah well I got distracted...you see…_my_ roommate has always said that sex without a condom was overrated…kind of like blonds…so I had to find out for myself." She smiled all over.

"Well?" Cloud asked her pulling her forward against him until her forehead was resting on his.

"You tell me. I think my teeth marks in your shoulder speak for itself." Tifa said still smiling.

"Not so overrated at all." Cloud reassured her before kissing her again. They couldn't sit here any longer…Tifa _had_ to get dressed and get back to work.

"YES! YES! YEEEEESSSS! This is the greatest moment of my life right now!" Zack insisted shaking Tseng.

"I thought Aerith hated Cissnei…therefore why is your girlfriend making out with Cissnei?" Tseng asked.

"I'm not going to question this at all but I'm pretty sure Aerith is so drunk she may think it's her friend Tifa. I don't give a shit though, Tseng! Don't remind her it's Cissnei! Besides, she only hates Cissnei when she thinks Cissnei is sleeping with me. Hey speaking of Tifa…do you think I could get her to join them?" Zack asked Tseng.

"Okay first, you are so fucking weird sometimes and second….I have no freaking clue who Tifa is." Tseng said.

"Hey, hey, hey…hey. Tifa…that reminds me…I can't believe Cloud is missing this! I gotta go find him! Wait…no I don't…he wouldn't give a shit…but I still should go find him! I haven't talked to him in over thirty minutes. You! Tseng! Makes sure that this is going on when I come back!" Zack said slapping Tseng on the back. Tseng shook his head. He couldn't understand Zack sometimes…well most of the time he didn't understand Zack. Zack managed to bump into nearly everyone as he returned inside the bar. He didn't get any more graceful as he approached the bar only to catch sight of Tifa.

"Tifa! Hey Tifa! Tifa! Aerith and Cissnei are making out outside will you come join them?" oh, Zack and his drunken self.

"No, I'm afraid I won't but um…good luck with how that one turns out." Tifa said.

"Hey! I've had a little bit too much tonight but not too much to notice Cloud isn't here. Where the hell did he go?" Zack asked.

"He had to answer his phone so he stepped downstairs. Oh my god, have you gotten so drunk that you've been smoking again?" Tifa said with a completely straight face.

"Yeah a little bit. Okay, okay well I'm going to get back to Aerith. Tell Cloud to come outside when you see him." Zack said disappearing again. He came in and out like the wind when he was drunk. Cloud was actually still downstairs counting Tifa's earnings from earlier tonight. It was best that they didn't walk up together…the other two bartenders would have far too many questions; which meant they would find out what Tifa and Cloud had done. Tifa was already counting down the minutes in this final hour that she worked. As far as she was concerned 2:00 AM couldn't come fast enough. There were 48 minutes left in this hour and she already had four drunks to help her co-worker Shay with.

Cloud finally emerged from the basement stairs. He looked at the clock: 1:10 AM. He decided it was best to go find Zack and tell him goodbye for the night since he was going to leave quickly with Tifa once her shift was done. The problem was he had no clue where to find Zack. The crowds had thinned out a little but not much. Fortunately, he found a couple people to ask and Cloud was immediately directed to one of the side doors. Sure enough there was Zack hysterically laughing with Aerith about something. Zack looked up just in time to see Cloud coming toward him.

"Oh my god! Where the fuck have you been! Hey, hey, hey…you missed it so much. I mean nothing you could have possibly been doing could have been better than what just happened out here!" Zack insisted throwing himself at Cloud.

"Oh I'm sure I've been doing something much…you've been smoking haven't you?" Cloud asked. Zack laughed.

"Yeeeees I have! Oh my god! Man! Have a cigarette with me! Cissnei!" Zack said to Cloud. He then yelled at Cissnei to bring him another cigarette. Aerith was now in the arms of another SOLDIER 1st class and Zack was doing nothing about it. Too bad he was so wasted he didn't even notice this.

"No, no. Zack really…I don't want a cigarette with you. I just came to tell you…" Zack cut Cloud off.

"Hey, listen. You may want to close you door tonight because me and Aerith are going to do some seriously sick shit." Zack said. Cloud looked at Zack realizing that this conversation was going nowhere. "No I'm serious, Cloud! I mean we're going to…." Cloud stopped Zack right there.

"That's okay….that's okay. You don't have to tell me what you two are going to actually do later." Cloud said realizing this conversation was going to go much too far unless he stopped it. "Listen I just wanted to tell you that I'm going home with Tifa tonight. I won't see you until sometime tomorrow. I didn't know if I would see you before we left so I wanted to make it a point to catch you. I can see that you likely won't remember this tomorrow." Cloud said.

"Aerith totally made out with Cissnei!" Zack said. Cloud sighed.

"Did you hear anything I said?" Cloud questioned.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! You, Tifa….Tifa's place…something else….sure! Whatever you say, man!" Zack said. Cloud still wasn't convinced that Zack understood everything but he wasn't going to make Tifa wait another minute at the bar without him. "Be careful Zack, call if you need anything." Cloud said. Thunder rolled in the distance just as Cloud was going to go back inside. He hadn't heard of any rain being predicted tonight but the air smelled heavy with dampness and it was obvious a storm was on the way. Cloud figured it best to get back inside before the rain came. Once back inside the bar, he looked at the clock: 1:25. There were still 35 minutes before Tifa was officially let off her shift. Right now Cloud knew he was only across the room from her and yet he felt as if he had been completely torn away from her and he _had _to get back before he went crazy. Time felt as if it were standing still. There was a streak of lightning outside. Cloud walked over to the window before moving toward the bar. He could see tiny drops starting to fall. This would surely drive the very drunk Zack, Aerith, Tseng and Cissnei back inside.

Tifa was already working her ass off again.

"You okay? You seem distracted." Shay said to Tifa.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay…I'm just…I can't wait to be done that's all." Tifa said absently. She wasn't really paying attention to what she was doing but her tips weren't suffering that was for sure.

"Well hey, It's 1:31. You don't have long left. I'm here until 3:30." Shay said to Tifa. Tifa smiled; only 29 minutes left. This was like waiting for a pot to boil. Tifa could hear the thunder outside. "Shit." She mumbled to herself. With that sound she knew she had to get dibs on the umbrella in the downstairs hallway before someone else grabbed it. She didn't bring her own because she didn't think she would need it. But there was one floating around here in the bar. She hurriedly slipped away to hide the umbrella for later. It didn't take her long. She had the perfect place to put it. Tifa caught sight of Cloud coming back toward her through the crowd. She couldn't help but smile. Everything in the world made her smile right now. Cloud's chair was long taken at the bar but he stood at the edge to wait on Tifa. She quickly walked over to him.

"Watch the clock with me. I'm not staying behind this bar a minute past two." Tifa would have thrown her arms around Cloud had she been one to show affection in public. But she wouldn't dare do such a thing. It was now 1:39…21 minutes left. Cloud had to do something to pass the time. He decided to count all of Tifa's coin tips again to make sure it was right. That would make the time go a faster for a little while. He leaned over in a vacant corner and started counting. He continually glanced up to make sure Tifa knew he was still close by. He also wanted to make sure no one at the bar shot inappropriate eyes at her. A loud clap of thunder startled everyone and made to bar go silent for about ten seconds. Cloud lost count of the coins and started over. For a moment he thought he should rush over to Tifa and take her in his arms…his hormones were still in overdrive and every reaction he could possibly think of was pure overkill. He started counting again.

Finally, as if by a miracle Cloud felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Look at the clock." Tifa said. Cloud looked over Tifa's shoulder: 1:59. Had he really been counting that long? He lost his place again and shoved the money back in his pocket for her. Cloud grabbed her hand without hesitation and followed her toward the back entrance of the bar. It was a little quieter back here.

"I found this umbrella. We'll have to cram underneath it; but it will work." Tifa said pushing the door open. She and Cloud stepped outside underneath the overhang of the bar. It was pouring out here and the streaming rain had cooled the world down to the point where it was almost cold.

"Well, looks like we have to make a run for it." Tifa said wrapping an arm around Cloud and pulling him as far underneath the umbrella as much as she could.


	7. Opposite Ends

Cloud and Tifa stood there underneath the overhang of the bar looking at the pouring rain before them.

"You're apartment is nine blocks from here right?" Cloud asked holding Tifa against him.

"Yeah, it's going to be one hell of a walk home tonight." Tifa said.

"Let's take the bus. There's a stop just down the street and if we do that we won't get soaked. Sure it will take longer but we'll be dry." Cloud said. He was right. By taking the bus it would be a 45 minute trip to Tifa's apartment. It was normally a 15 minute walk. This rain would make it miserable and the lightning around them a bit on the dangerous side. The bus was a perfect option right now.

"Okay, let's go for it. We're still going to get wet but at least it won't be as bad as it could be." Tifa said squeezing Cloud's hand. The lightning flashed around them. They didn't waste another minute. Tifa squealed as they hurried off onto the semi-flooded sidewalks. Water flew as their shoes hit deep puddles. Thank goodness the Midgar Bus Transit was a 24-hour operation. They could see the bus stop sign and the covered waiting area. That would at least provide temporary relief from the blowing rain while they waited on the bus to make its rounds. Tifa clumsily put the umbrella down and leaned it up against the bus stop bench. The rain had soaked the bench so they would be standing waiting on the bus to arrive. Tifa shivered a bit as the few cars that traveled the streets tonight sprayed water in all directions. "What time is it?" Tifa asked as she turned her back toward the street. Cloud reached into his pocket for his phone and looked at it.

"2:15." He answered her. The bus ran in ten minute increments. "We won't have to wait here long." Cloud took Tifa in his arms, pulling her body close to him. He watched the lighting flash over Tifa's head. The thunder made the bus stop kiosk shake as the vibrations surged through it.

"I hope Zack and Aerith make it home okay. Maybe it will stop storming by the time they leave the bar tonight." Tifa said letting the weight of her body sink into Cloud.

"Something tells me that both of them are going to be so wasted that they won't even notice the rain. They are in bad shape as it is." Cloud said. Tifa laughed.

"You're right. They are both pretty well tanked; maybe even more so than the time I made drinks for them not too long ago." Tifa said. The sound of the approaching bus could be heard as its headlights tried to cut through the merciless rain. It must have been 2:20 or very close to that. "Do you still have my money from tonight? Bus fare is six gil, I think." Tifa said releasing Cloud and picking up the umbrella. She didn't bother to open it. It wouldn't do any good.

"By the way, do you have any idea how much you made tonight? 214 gil and that's not counting whatever is in your apron right now." Cloud said. Tifa had tucked her apron away in the bag that was slung over her shoulder.

"That was good money indeed." Tifa said taking the money from Cloud as the bus pulled up. She stepped out into the rain and threw a hand in the air hoping the bus would see them. The bus's brakes screeched as it slowed down. The door flung open; the neon lights from the interior lighting up the sidewalk. Tifa hurried inside and up the two steps. She handed the money over to the driver. "Hi! You going to 53rd and Vineland tonight?" Tifa asked. She wasn't sure why she asked the driver that. Of course the bus would be going that way…the buses stayed on route. The stop was technically called The Plaza which was a shopping district located near 53rd Street and Vineland Boulevard. It was just something to say to the driver so she and Cloud wouldn't enter in silence.

"I sure am. I have a few stops to make in between but I'll get you there." The driver said. He was surprisingly cheerful for it to be after 2:00 in the morning and storming like hell. The bright lights of the bus were a bit painful to the eyes at first considering Cloud and Tifa had been in near darkness standing at the bus stop. Surprisingly, there were a handful of other passengers on the bus. Most likely the 2nd shift hospital workers and perhaps even the 2nd shift Shin-Ra maintenance crew workers. Tifa sat on the aisle of the bus so she could sit the umbrella along the metal edging of the walkway. The bus lunged forward as the driver continued onward to the next stop. _Next stop Midgar Circle._ The driver announced over the intercom system. Midgar Circle, Loveless Avenue, the Sector 5 slums and the Shin-Ra outpost were all the busiest stops on the route though they likely wouldn't be too populated at this hour.

Tifa shivered again. The chill bumps on her barely covered legs could be easily seen. Her arms were freezing along with her legs. Cloud immediately noticed how cold she was. Normally he would have been scared to put his arms around Tifa in a public place…but after what they had already done in a public place tonight made that idea of not putting his arms around her seem ridiculous.

"You're cold I can tell. Come here, I don't have a coat obviously but maybe I can get you a little warmer." Cloud said. Tifa smiled as she let her head fall into his shoulder. His embrace _was _warm.

"You smell like laundry." Tifa said. "Clean laundry that is. You always smell that way." Cloud laughed.

"You can thank Zack…he takes our laundry detergent surprisingly seriously." And speaking of Zack…

He and Aerith were still at the 7th Heaven bar. The time was now 2:30 and they were getting ready to head out. They had just stepped out the front entrance of the bar only to see the weather that faced them. The apartment was two blocks from the bar.

"We've just gotta go, Aerith." Zack said squeezing her hand.

"Shit! Zack! It's pouring out here! We need to call a cab or something." Aerith insisted.

"No, that will take for freaking ever. Besides, that is idiotic to call a cab for a two block walk." Zack said. Both of them were still very well smashed so they didn't even think to ask Cissnei or Tseng or anyone else if they DROVE here tonight and could give them a ride back to the apartment. "Okay, okay…here's what we're going to do…we're going to run like hell." Zack said.

"Zack! I can't run nearly as fast as you! Let's just call a fucking cab and wait on it." Aerith insisted.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey…I love you…I will not outrun you. I will hold on to you so you don't fall behind." Zack said wrapping his arms around Aerith and kissing her hard. As his hands moved their way up her dress that was all the convincing her drunk brain needed. Aerith smiled all over.

"Alright, let's go. But we have to be fast as hell Zack! We're going to get soaked beyond belief!" Aerith said gripping Zack's hand.

"Don't worry Aerith. You ready? On three okay? We run like fucking hell on three…1…2…3!" Zack yelled the three as they took off into the rain. Aerith screamed like a little girl as the cold rain hit her bare skin. It was a good thing they were so close to the apartment and had the route back memorized. Zack didn't want Aerith tripping on a curb or a storm drain and breaking a leg. Her screeches turned to laughter as she and Zack ran like maniacs through the rain. They had managed to make it one block away from the bar. Just one more block to go. Aerith ran faster alongside Zack. She kept up the pace quite well despite the fact that her dress had nearly fallen off one shoulder entirely. Zack had almost squeezed her hand off making certain that they stayed together. At last they could see the door lights of their apartment unit.

"Come on, come on! We're almost there!" Zack said as they picked up their pace even more for to get across the last street before approaching their sidewalk.

"Get the key! Hurry!" Aerith said pushing her thin strap back onto her shoulder. It didn't do any good because the weight of the soaking wet fabric was pulling her entire dress down anyway. Zack got the door open and shoved Aerith inside in front of him. They had forgotten to leave a light on and so their apartment was darkened. Zack quickly closed the door behind them but Aerith stopped him as he reached for the nearby light switch. She pushed him up against the door and kissed him hard. She immediately felt her sopping wet dress hit the floor in one quick motion behind her. "Zack…fuck me." Aerith hissed, her voice heavy and breathless. They both reeked of alcohol.

_Next stop Loveless Avenue_. The bus driver announced. Cloud hadn't let go of Tifa's hand this entire bus ride. "Our stop is next." Tifa said relieved that The Plaza stop was closer than it had been all night. "I can't wait to get out of these clothes and get something to eat."

"I can help you with either of those, you know." Cloud said. Tifa laughed.

"I'm sure you can. By the way, my roommate will probably be coming in soon. Um…if we actually see her disregard her fake hair and platform shoes. This might be a good time to tell you that she's an exotic dancer." Tifa said.

"She's what?" Cloud asked.

"It's a polite and fancy way of saying that she's a stripper…she plays on a pole for money. I don't question what else she does while she's at the club." Tifa explained.

"You live…with a stripper…Tifa, that sounds unsafe. What if she….I don't know...brings strange people home with her." Cloud asked.

"I know. You're right and she has brought some questionable people into our apartment before. But she's temporary and I would have never ever let her move in with me had I known what she did. It's not that I'm judging _her_…I'm judging what she _does_ for a living. She's actually a very, sweet and educated person. I think somewhere along the way though, she just lost her sense of direction." Tifa explained.

"Why didn't Aerith just move in with you? You have a beautiful and spacious apartment. By the way, we can never tell Zack you live with a stripper….who knows what he'll dream up." Cloud said.

"It wasn't close enough to Zack so she chose to stay where she is. And yes, you're right…who knows what he would dream up." Tifa said. _The Plaza._ The bus driver announced as their stop had finally arrived. Tifa pulled Cloud up and they hurried toward the front of the bus. Tifa shot the umbrella up as fast as she could as she stepped out of the bus and onto the curb. It seemed as if this stop would never come. Thank goodness The Plaza was well lit; it would at least make for a less cumbersome walk to Tifa's apartment complex. There was hardly another soul on these streets tonight. Cloud still held on to Tifa's hand as they made their way away from the main strip and down one of the side streets. The rain had let up slightly.

"Damn it! Power's out." Zack said hearing the central air unit shut off and noticing the glowing clock beside their bed go out.

"So?" Aerith said pulling Zack back down over her.

"It's _too_ dark, Aerith. Do we have a flashlight or something?" Zack asked.

"I don't know. Wait…we have those scented candles in the living room cabinet. Remember? We stuck them all in there after we bought them?" Aerith said squirming around to sit up in the bed.

"Oooooh yeah! Those things Cloud is allergic to! Come on let's go try and dig them out of the cabinet!" Zack said.

"I'm naked!" Aerith reminded him.

"So? That will be hot!" Zack said stumbling through the bedroom toward the door. It would be difficult to actually pull this candle thing off with the two of them so drunk. None the less, they made their way out into the living room.

"Shit! I think I just broke my entire foot on the damn cabinet!" Zack whined as he tripped over the cabinet where the candles were. Aerith managed to somewhat fall over him as Zack bent down to open the door of the cabinet. "Alright, they are in here somewhere. I am going to start pulling shit out and I will start handing you candles as I find them." Zack said.

"How the hell are we going to light these? Do we even have any matches?" Aerith wondered. Zack thought a moment. Of course they didn't have any matches! Why the hell would they have matches!

"No…we have no matches…" Zack thought a moment. "Wait! I accidentally kept Tseng's lighter tonight! It's somewhere in my pants and my pants are in the bedroom which is where we are taking these candles anyway." Zack said throwing stuff out of this cabinet and putting candles in Aerith's arms. She was currently holding four of them. "Hey, we don't need all ten do we? How about I just…oh wait here are two more….Aerith…why the hell do we have so many of these?" Zack wondered successfully emptying one shelf entirely.

"Because we got them on sale silly!" Aerith said.

"So we bought ten? No normal person needs ten candles." Zack said.

"Well, it was your idea baby. Now come on! Let's go light these things! I'm sick of not being able to see anything!" Aerith said taking small steps back toward the bedroom. Zack was close behind her.

Across town, Cloud and Tifa had finally made it to the first floor lobby of her apartment building. She shook the wet umbrella on the carpet in front of the door. Cloud noticed the security cameras in the lobby. They had to have a door code to get into this lobby; it was a safety precaution.

"Do you care if I check my mailbox before we go upstairs?" Tifa asked.

"No, I don't mind at all. I'll go ahead and get the elevator down here." Cloud said. This was a rather lavish building and one of the few apartment complexes in Midgar that had an elevator. It had to due to its twelve floors. Tifa lived on the 8th floor. Any unit above floor eight was horribly expensive and only the Midgar elite could afford to rent there. Floor eleven and twelve were penthouses. Tifa heard the ding of the elevator just as she had pulled the mail from her mail slot. She locked it back and hurried over to where Cloud was standing. The elevator surged upward and in no time there they were standing in the 8th floor hallway. Tifa's unit was the last on the left. There wasn't a sound to be heard in the halls tonight. There were only six units per floor and the spacious units were another reason why living here wasn't cheap. Tifa shoved her door key in the slot and flipped on the light. 2:49 AM…they had _finally_ made it home. Tifa sighed and threw her arms around Cloud, letting the umbrella fall and hit the trim around the door. She kissed him before taking another step forward.

"I'm going to go change clothes. I'll be right back, I promise." Tifa said letting go of Cloud again.

"Don't put too much on." Cloud said. Tifa laughed.

"Maybe I won't put anything on." Tifa answered.

"That would…that would be okay, Tifa…That would be okay." Cloud said searching in the kitchen for something to make for her. He knew she was hungry and this was the least he could do. There was plenty of stuff in the refrigerator to make her a decent sandwich. Cloud realized his entire back was wet from there the umbrella didn't completely cover him and Tifa. He figured he would change later. Even though Cloud had only been over here a couple times with Tifa, he managed to fill one of her dresser drawers completely with some of his clothes.

"You're making me a sandwich? Ooooh thank you so much!" Tifa said excitedly. Cloud looked up at her as she sat down on the barstool.

"Oh my god…you can almost see right through that…almost." Cloud said a bit shocked by the fact that Tifa was wearing a navy blue semi-opaque slip. It was hard to take his eyes off of her.

"You told me not to put too much on." Tifa said waiting for Cloud to finish this sandwich.

"Yeah…I just didn't think you would actually take me seriously. Besides, I thought you were cold?" Cloud said putting the finishing touches on her sandwich.

"I was but it's not that cold in here and I felt better after I got out of my skirt." Tifa said.

"Well, as much as I'd like to stay here and look at you, I'm going to change clothes now because my back is soaked from that last leg of the trip." Cloud said pushing this finished sandwich in front of Tifa.

"Thanks for this sandwich. I'll wait right here for you." Tifa reassured Cloud.

Back across town, Zack and Aerith finally had gotten all the candles lit in their bedroom. At last there was some light in the apartment; there was no telling when the electric would come back on. "What's this scent?" Zack asked handing a candle over to Aerith.

"Peaches and cream." Aerith said lighting it.

"I don't get it…we have a freaking pine needles candle…a strawberry candle, some kind of tropical…something. Where do they get the names of these things? Like this…sex on the beach! Who decided that _this_ is what sex on the beach smells like? Hey, hey…you know what we should do?" Zack started laughing.

"We're nowhere near a beach, Zack!" Aerith said knowing where this was going. "And this candle isn't called pine needles, its evergreen!"

"Well we should go to the beach and soon and prove that this candle in fact does not smell like sex on the beach!" Zack said. This room smelled like a scent explosion of six different candles and Cloud's eyes would surely be watering and he would be sneezing like crazy when he came back tomorrow.

"Okay, here's the last one. This one is called paradise." Aerith said handing the lit candle over to Zack. He smelled it and set it on the nightstand beside him.

"I will just not get who comes up with this shit. Who says paradise smells like a fucking pineapple!" Zack said. He turned around and looked at Aerith. The candlelight danced over every beautiful curve of her. It didn't matter when the power came back on. The sight of her right now was entirely irresistible.

"I can't do it now…you look too perfect." Zack said.

"What do you mean?" Aerith said reaching to the other side of their bed and grabbing a silk scarf that was lying on the floor. She handed it over to Zack. He just looked at her.

"I mean everything we talked about doing…I can't…I have to be gentle with you tonight. You just look like an angel that's all." Zack said sincerely even though his breath was still soaked in alcohol.

"Well, in that case we won't need this scarf or the video camera." Aerith said throwing the scarf on the floor and reaching her arms around Zack. His kiss was soft, his touch was soft, and in fact Zack hadn't been this gentle with Aerith in a long time. Aerith sighed as she felt Zack's hands trace her body.

"Touch me." She whispered a bit breathlessly as she let her hands drift above her head. She didn't have to ask twice. Things were about to heat up on both ends of town.


	8. Delicious

Tifa moaned loudly as her head hit the pillow behind her. Things weren't quite as gentle in Tifa's apartment as they were in Zack's right now. She begged Cloud not to stop, her voice hushed and breathless. He had his face buried between her legs. For a moment Tifa thought she may choke on her own lack of breath. The way Cloud's tongue tasted her, savored her, and indulged in her was enough to drive any woman insane. Cloud didn't have any experience with any other woman but Tifa so how did he seemingly know exactly what she wanted to feel? The solution was simple: He didn't…but the mere thought of eating her out had been Cloud's greatest weakness for a long time. As far as he was concerned he could make her come over and over like this and not give a shit it he ever came even once. Tifa could feel Cloud spread her legs slightly farther apart. She let her hands trace her own body to her breasts; even to her own hands they felt voluptuous and aroused. "Oh god you have to stop, you have to stop…I'm gonna come…I'm gonna come…oooh my god I'm…" Tifa growled through gritted teeth.

"Then come…let me taste what that's like." Cloud demanded of her. That made Tifa weak all over. He didn't have to ask her twice. Tifa didn't bother burying her face in her pillow or anything. She didn't care that her roommate was likely home from work and could easily hear her. "Yes…yes…yes…just like that." Cloud whispered to her. She couldn't hear him but he didn't care. He was mostly telling himself anyway.

Cloud lifted his head up and shifted his body closer over Tifa's. He watched her face carefully. She looked so blissful and satisfied right now. She was a gorgeous sight.

"Cloud…" she uttered breathlessly.

"Ssshhh...you're perfect…" Cloud said kissing her stomach.

Aerith had beads of sweat all over her. Stupid power going out…she blamed that for the fact that she was sweating like she never had before. She wasn't used to Zack being this perpetually intense with her. His motions were grinding, rhythmic and it left Aerith begging for more. Zack hadn't heard her beg for him like that in a long time…he must have been doing something right. He was sweating almost as much as Aerith.

"Don't stop…" Aerith pleaded as she raked sweaty fingertips over Zack's back. This room was miserably hot and there wasn't much either of them could do about it. Zack wouldn't last much longer. She moved her fingers into beautiful black hair. The way Aerith panted for Zack didn't help in holding him off any longer. She arched her back, letting Zack's hands finally have enough room to slip behind her. His skin glowed in the candle's soft flame. If Aerith would have been more aggressive she would have traded him places right now but she didn't have that kind of assertiveness at this moment nor did she have the energy. Aerith didn't realize how exhausted she really was and she wouldn't until she was lying still enough to feel how sore her thighs were.

"Are you sure about this?" Tifa asked. She had recovered from her post-climactic pleasure.

"Positive." Cloud said leaning over her back toward her ear. "You wanted to know my weakness right?"

"Yes…yes…please…" Tifa answered softly.

"Eating pussy." Cloud told her quietly. The words nearly made her numb. She was on all fours right now ready for Cloud to have his way with her but the utter sexiness of his words was enough to make her faint. She sighed heavily, but there was no telling if it was over what Cloud had just said or because he had just shoved all of him inside her. She had always wanted to do this from behind. She knew Cloud could pound into her as hard as he could in this position. Thank goodness there was a window right above Tifa's bed. She was going to hang on to the edge of the pane. She needed something to help her maintain her balance. Her breath fogged the glass before her.

"Oh god Cloud…ooooh god…" Tifa cried out for him. His hands were gentle as he touched her but the rest of him was raw aggression. She could feel his breath on her neck, heavy and labored. Everything in this moment was so heated and purely erotic.

"Is…is that too hard?" Cloud choked out breathlessly to her.

"No…no…do it harder…fuck me harder." Tifa begged.

"Oh….god…" Cloud's voice was weak. He watched Tifa's body move with his as the lightning flashed outside. It's white flicker illuminated her every curve. Tifa could feel Cloud's hand hit her hard. He had no idea what made him do it and though Cloud was mortified at first, but her response was so positive that he had to slap her fine ass again. "You wanna lay down? You tired?" Cloud panted at her. He couldn't help but make sure she was comfortable.

"I'm okay baby…I'm okay…" Tifa said. She really wasn't… her arms were trembling and her knees were close to giving in. But this was unbelievable and she knew she could last just a little longer. She would do anything to let Cloud feel the pleasure of her body for just a while longer.

Aerith laid there on top of all the covers staring at Zack. Her heart was racing. "You know…we really should have had _that_ on video…since we were going to make a tape and all." She said.

"You're right…that should have been…the…yeah. Oooh, Aerith." Zack said reaching for her sweaty hand. He blew out the candle closest to him. Aerith could still see soft blue eyes piercing through her in the candlelight. Aerith blew out the candle nearest to her. That left four more.

"It's still raining." Zack said listening to the steady rain hit the roof. The apartment was quiet.

"Mmm." Aerith responded. She managed to blow out another candle. She wished the power would come back on and they could reset their breaker but there was no such luck. They would both be sweating until power was restored.

"How are we going to reach those other candles? That would require moving." Zack said.

"Leave them for now." Aerith said. It would be a miracle if either of them actually remembered to blow those candles out.

It took everything Tifa had to keep from screaming in pleasure. She could tell by the way Cloud squeezed her shoulders that his climax was not even a second away. She was right. She could hear him desperately plea for her as she felt her body flood. Cloud rested his head in the middle of Tifa's back, his warm breath rapid and shallow on her cool skin. Tifa's grip had finally slipped from the window pane above her. She hit her bed hard and unexpectedly.

"Cloud…" she wasn't sure what she was going to say as the felt wetness slowly creeping down the inside of her thigh.

"Here…" Cloud pulled himself up off her back and rolled her over so that she was facing him. Tifa's blanket was in a wad toward the bottom of her bed. Cloud grabbed the edge of her blanket and wrapped it around them. There was something about the way he put his arms around Tifa…something needy and comforting. Tifa put her arms around him. The heaviest part of the storm was over. Rain and distant thunder was left in its wake. "You're amazing…_that_…was amazing." Cloud said.

"Tell me, where did you find that much fury?" Tifa asked. She laughed and held on to him tighter.

"That's easy…you're impossible to resist." Cloud said.

"So tell me something?" Tifa's voice was soft. "How do I taste?"

"Delicious. You make me want more." Cloud said. Tifa smiled.

"You spoil me, not that I'll complain." She kissed him softly.

"By the way…what were you expecting me to tell you?" Cloud asked.

"You mean what your one weakness was? Well, I thought it would be that you liked to make panty soup out of my underwear…if you know what I mean" Tifa said.

"Oh...my god…okay, and you think I'm a complete sicko, why? And yes, I know what you mean!" Cloud asked her kissing her forehead. Tifa laughed.

"I don't know! You wouldn't tell so I figured it _had_ to be something just…wow." Tifa said.

"You…are messed…up." Cloud said not letting her out of his arms. They would be asleep in no time.

The morning light peaked through the windows of Zack's apartment. It was 7:30 AM and the night had passed without another storm. Zack and Aerith were awakened by the excruciating sound of the alarm clock beside the bed. The power had been restored. They were both miserable this morning. Zack pulled their alarm clock out of the wall and threw it across the room. Neither of them had the strength to get up and reset the air conditioner.

"Aerith?" Zack mumbled wearily.

"Mmmm." Aerith answered weakly.

"Am I naked right now?" what the hell kind of question was that at 7:30 in the morning?

"I don't know…I'm over here." Aerith whined not volunteering to turn around. They laid there in silence for a while. This was another morning just like the one that had occurred nearly a week earlier…only worse. "Zack? If I throw up on you…I'm sorry. But if I move at all…I'm going to throw up."

"That's okay…whatever." Zack answered. He obviously didn't care if she did. "You know what we need? Coffee and lots of it. We will both sober up if we have coffee. I wonder if Cloud made any." Zack said. He thought about what he had said. "Shit…Cloud's not here…he went home with Tifa last night…I think. I will call him and make him bring us stuff." Zack said putting out as little effort as possible to reach for his phone. He finally got to it and called Cloud. "Damn it he's not picking up." Zack said to Aerith but it seemed she wasn't listening. "Hey, bring me and Aerith some coffee and other crap if you get this message. Bye." Zack hung up his phone and without thinking let it fall to the floor. This was going to be a long morning.

It wasn't until 8:30 AM that Cloud and Tifa had begun to wake.

"Morning." Tifa said looking at Cloud who had somehow ended up on the edge of her bed. He moved back over close to her.

"Good morning." He moved Tifa's tangled hair away from her face.

"How did you sleep? And you have to tell me the truth you can't give me a bullshit answer." Tifa insisted. Cloud laughed at her.

"I slept well and that's the truth. I only woke once and that was when I realized I was somehow completely wrapped in one of your sheets…that's why it's on the floor now." Cloud said.

"Good." Tifa said throwing her arms around him and sliding her hands down his body.

"I think I might love you." Cloud said somewhat out of nowhere. Tifa smiled.

"Are you sure that's not your cock talking? 'Cause it's insanely hard right now." Tifa said letting her hand wrap around a swollen shaft.

"No, no…I'm…positive it's not…but oh my god, you're hand…" Cloud answered her. Tifa leaned her face against his.

"Well, I…I think I love you too. And for the record…that's not the wetness between my legs talking. " Tifa answered him. This was going to be an interesting morning.


	9. The Move

"Oh! Oh my god! Holy….shit! Did I…did you…did I fuck you last night?" the woman in the kitchen asked Cloud as she took a long drag on her cigarette and blew the smoke into a fan she had situated in front of her.

"No, no…um…I…" the woman interrupted Cloud.

"Whew…I came in here pretty fucked up last night…but I thought you looked a little too clean for…oh my god I am such a bitch…I'm Tanzi…Tifa's roommate. Name's Tanita but everyone calls me Tanzi. Or, I don't know if you've ever been to 'The Willow' but you may know me as Astor…that's my stage name." She said in a hoarse voice. It sounded as if she had been up all night. Cloud looked into her eyes…it was as if no one were in there. Her eyes were bloodshot and glassy…a hollow shell of a woman.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Cloud…I'm…Tifa's boyfriend." Cloud said. Strange, it didn't feel funny saying that at all.

"Oooh, oh okay. Shit, that makes sense now. I really didn't remember bringing any guys home last night so that's why I nearly freaked when I saw you." Tanzi answered. "God, I am such an ass! Cigarette?" she extended her pack to Cloud who was trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get around her to get in the kitchen. He had come in here for orange juice…what he had gotten was one strung out stripper.

"No, thanks. I'm just here to get some orange juice actually." He said somewhat awkwardly.

"I'll get it for you, sweetie." Tanzi said turning around to the refrigerator and pulling a half gallon of orange juice out. She handed him the biggest glass she could find in one of the cabinets. "I have to smoke in front of this fan because I know how Tifa hates the smell in the apartment. She's so sweet, you know that? She's such a wonderful roommate. She takes care of me…hasn't judged me once. Hey, would it bother you if I cut a line of cocaine? I haven't told Tifa yet that I have a bit of a habit…been bingeing on this shit for six hours." Tanzi said. Cloud spilled orange juice all over his hand when she said this. No one had ever asked him such a thing before.

"Um…no…that's okay...sure." how the hell was he supposed to answer a question like that! He reached for a paper towel and watched Tanzi carefully as she scraped away with a razor on the crystal before her. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe the thousand hormones surging through him right now, but whatever the case; he felt miserably sorry for this woman. He was watching self destruction as it happened. You could tell that at one time she was pretty but now she looked frail, undernourished and addicted.

"So what do you do?" Tanzi asked as Cloud waited with great anticipation for an opening to leave Tanzi and her self induced torture.

"I work for Shin-Ra." Cloud answered her. Tanzi smirked as she finished cutting her line.

"Shin-Ra huh? Damn…you all are gooood business for me. Shit…if I had a gil for every Shin-Ra SOLDIER I've given a lap dance to…oh wait…I do!…I'm sorry. I should shut the hell up. I don't even fucking know you…never seen you in my life. But, if you're with Tifa you can't be all that bad. So, what class are you?" Tanzi asked snorting white poison up her nose. Cloud felt his heart break and he didn't really know why. What the hell could have ever happened to this woman to make her kill herself like this? "Oh I'm uh…I'm…not…I…I'm infantry…a guard actually." Cloud said taking a step away from the kitchen.

"Oh." Was all Tanzi said. She blinked a few times and put her head back in the chair she was in. "You ever met any SOLDIER 1st Class? Me, I've met plenty. That's the shit you know. Never met Zack Fair though. You heard of him? Finest piece of SOLDIER Shin-Ra has to offer. Shit…I would give anything to get underneath that. Swear to god that's the sexiest thing I've ever seen in my life. Fuck, listen to me…going on and on. You take that juice and get back to Tifa or whatever the hell you were doing. It was nice to meet you, Cloud." Tanzi said not lifting her head up.

"Hey, um…you know…Shin-Ra is looking for some…part time help in their museum. If you're interested you should stop by sometime." Cloud said before he left the kitchen to get back to Tifa. He lied…he had no clue why he said that. There was no such opening. Part of him felt like someone needed to save this woman from herself.

"Thanks for the thought honey but that kind of work don't pay enough." Was all Tanzi said before Cloud left the room.

It was now 11:30. Aerith woke suddenly and sat straight up in bed. She yawned and looked over at Zack who was still asleep. She groaned a little and got up, going into the kitchen. She didn't even bother getting dressed; besides it was okay to walk around naked in your boyfriend's apartment, right? It was obvious that no one had been in the kitchen meaning that Cloud wasn't home. Aerith struggled to find whatever it was she was looking for. She stared at the coffee pot across from her wishing to god that coffee would make itself. She needed it to be strong and black if it was going to do anything about the hangover that she and Zack had. The phone rang while she was in the kitchen. Aerith stumbled over to it and answered it reluctantly as she searched the cabinet above her for the coffee grounds. It was Cloud.

"Oh my god! Are you on your way over here!" Aerith asked excitedly as she could to feel this badly right now.

"Yeah, me and Tifa were going to go grab some lunch and then be there." Cloud said.

"Will you bring me and Zack a chicken dinner? Please, please, please! Like…the biggest fucking one the grocery store deli has! Oh! And get mashed potatoes with it but make sure they put the gray on the side because Zack freaks when they combine it. Oh! And get…you know what get whatever the hell they have, we are so hungry and hung over. I mean this is baaaaad, Cloud. The last time was nothing compared to this." Aerith whined.

"Okay, hold on…let me get a pen and write all this down. Alright, tell me what you want." Cloud said. While Cloud was on the phone with Aerith, Tifa had her suitcase out cramming it as full as she could. She and Cloud had been talking earlier that morning about her roommate.

"Hey, hey Aerith is Zack awake?" Cloud asked her.

"No." she answered.

"Well, listen…I really need to talk to him. This is kind of important. Do you care to go wake him up?" Cloud asked a bit concerned.

"Hold on." Cloud heard Aerith accidentally drop the phone all over the kitchen counter. Aerith managed to get him to wake up and make a little bit of sense before she put Cloud on the phone.

"Hey, it's me. Are you alert enough to talk to me right now? I'm about to ask you something and I need to know if you're coherent enough to give me a real answer." Cloud said. Zack yawned.

"Yeah…yeah what's going on?" Zack said rolling over to one side miserably.

"Um…do you think…I mean since Aerith is with us you know…most of the week…do you…would it be okay if um…if Tifa stayed us…for a while?" Cloud asked.

"Of course she can. Hell, I don't care." Zack answered him.

"I'll explain everything later, but thanks Zack." Cloud said gratefully.

"Yeah, sure. I'm going back to bed now." Zack said turning the phone off and throwing it beside him. He could smell coffee starting to drip in the kitchen and he wondered what time it was. It Zack's mind it just couldn't be any later than 9:00. Aerith managed to make a mess all over the counter top in the kitchen as she let the coffee pot drip too long. She decided she would clean that up later; the important thing was that it was done. Aerith grabbed an oversized coffee mug in the cabinet above her. She was going to leave this mug on the nightstand for Zack and take a shower. She thought that may wake her up a little.

"Here, do you want this now?" Aerith asked knowing Zack didn't have a chance to fall asleep yet.

"Ooooh I do want that." He decided this huge cup of coffee was worth waking up for. "Wait, wait, wait…where are you going?" Zack asked Aerith.

"I'm going to take a shower because I need to wake up." Aerith said.

"Well hold on a minute, come and talk to me. Um…this is good…um…oh I know what I was going to say…what do we have to eat that we don't have to cook?" Zack asked Aerith pushing tangled strands of hair away from her face.

"Cloud and Tifa are coming over later. They are going to bring lunch." Aerith explained.

"That's the best thing I've heard in the 20 seconds I've been awake." Zack said. He reached out for Aerith and kissed her. "Okay, now you can go get in the shower. Wait no you can't….get me something to wear." Zack said.

"My god Zack, this room is a mess. What have we done in here for the past three days?" Aerith asked digging around in a drawer.

"We haven't cleaned, I know that. Hey….I have an idea. Today, after we eat or whatever…let's make Cloud trade us rooms since Tifa's going to live with us a while anyway." Zack said. Aerith gasped with excitement.

"Tifa's moving in! She's moving in here! When! Why!" Aerith couldn't hide her happiness.

"I don't know. Cloud said something…I was only half listening. I still feel kinda' sick so I wasn't paying much attention." Zack said.

"I am so excited right now!" Aerith said. "Okay, so today we take Cloud's room. After I get out of the shower I will go moving his stuff out!" Aerith said throwing something on the bed for Zack to put on. "Yay! Yay! Yay!" Aerith said hurrying off to the shower. She was so happy about this news.

"Wow…this room really is a mess. Ehh, Cloud and Tifa won't care." Zack said looking around at the fact that they hadn't cleaned in at least three days or more.

By 12:30 Zack and Aerith were awake and much less hung over than they had been that morning. So far, they had all of Cloud's clothes out of his closet and out of his dresser and they were all piled up on the opposite side of the living room. The hardest part would be moving all this furniture around but there were still plenty of other things to move before worrying about that. Zack and Aerith had two completely different techniques to moving Cloud out of his own room: Zack's technique was throw everything in a pile…Aerith's method was to organize everything by color and size…neither mattered…Cloud was going to freak when he saw this. They heard the door open just as Zack had literally scooped everything on Cloud's bathroom counter into a bag.

"Oh my god! That's our food!" Aerith said dropping the bag in the middle of the floor and running into the living room. Both Cloud and Tifa had their hands overloaded…it was interesting dragging two suitcases, three huge garbage bags and a chicken dinner on the bus. They dropped everything in the doorway. Aerith's pink dress from the night before was still laying there in a wad where Zack had stripped it off her.

"Hi! You're going to move in!" Aerith asked excitedly tearing the bag of chicken away from Tifa. "Ooooooh you got everything I asked for and more!" Aerith said sitting on the couch and pulling everything out of the bag. "Zack! Get out here!" Aerith yelled at him. Zack stopped whatever he was doing in Cloud's room to join Aerith.

"Oh my god that chicken smells amazing; I'm getting iced tea for this." Zack said as he also grabbed two forks as fast as he could.

"I smell those candles…the ones I'm allergic to. And dare I ask why I see all my clothes in a pile over there?" Cloud asked closing the door behind him.

"Oh yeah, that…we're changing rooms with you and Tifa. By the way, what's up with this move, Tifa?" Zack asked opening everything on the table in front of he and Aerith.

"Apparently, my roommate is addicted to cocaine and I didn't know this. That makes me feel a whole lot unsafe living with her." Tifa said.

"Yeah…that's…well that's bad. So how did you find out?" Zack said.

"Cloud found out actually. I'll let him tell you about it if he wants but to make a long story short I have lots of stuff to put into storage tomorrow and I promise I will start looking for a place immediately. " Tifa said.

"Well, you don't have to start _that_ soon." Cloud said moving her suitcases out of the doorway. Cloud proceeded to tell Zack and Aerith all about Tifa's roommate.

"So wait…how in the world did you manage to pack all that stuff, have lunch, rent a storage unit and get this amazing chicken dinner for us? Oh my god they didn't combine the gravy with the mashed potatoes! I love that place now!" Zack said.

"We moved pretty fast." Tifa said.

"So, what about your cocaine addicted stripper roommate? Will she have anything left in that apartment after you get all of your stuff to storage?" Aerith asked.

"Why did you never tell me you lived with a stripper!" Zack insisted.

"There won't be much left that's for sure. I'm going to handle her tomorrow; that part won't be hard. She can live there until the end of the month anyway. I'm pretty sure she'll just move a stripper friend of hers in." Tifa said.

"You know, that's a sentence I never thought I would ever hear." Zack said.

"Now, about this changing rooms shit you mentioned?" Cloud asked rubbing his already watering eyes.

"Don't you worry, man! You and I are going to move all the furniture and me and Aerith nearly have all your crap moved out."

"I was afraid you'd say something like that…and why do we have to switch rooms today?" Cloud asked now feeling himself stop up completely from those stupid candles.

"Well, when you said Tifa was going to move in with us I figured what better time to switch rooms than now!" Zack said happily.

"Riiiiiight." Cloud said unamused as he felt tears stream down his face. "By the way…thanks for lighting those damn candles."

"Oh yeah! You're allergic to those….wow that room is really going to irritate you today. We lost power last night." Aerith said. Both she and Zack were completely sidetracked by the chicken. There was a knock at the door. Cloud answered it. Surprisingly, it was Cissnei.

"Hey, I'm really sorry to stop by. Do you care if I use your phone?" she asked Cloud.

"No not at all, come in." Cloud said.

"Shit, what happened in here? It smells like pine needles, Aerith's dress is in the floor, there is a huge pile like someone's moving out over there and there's a bunch of luggage in the doorway." Cissnei said stepping inside.

"Cieenei is here!" Aerith said jumping up and running over to her. She hugged her and returned to the chicken. Funny…..Aerith was supposed to hate Cissnei.

"Ooooooh my god! You are wearing a guy's clothes!" Zack said.

"Shut up." Cissnei said trying not to smile.

"You stayed with someone last night!" Zack said.

"Go to hell." Cissnei said dialing the phone.

"Who did you fuck!" Zack asked.

"I hate you." Cissnei said.

"Is it who I think it is?" Zack asked smiling all over.

"Yeeeees!" Cissnei said. "Hey, come pick me up. I'm at Zack's." she had called Tseng to come get her.

"Ooooooh I am going to see him Monday morning." Zack said still smiling.

"Shut uuuuuuup!" Cissnei said.

"Come on you have to tell us now! Believe me Cissnei…nothing you say will be a shock to anyone in this room. If you don't tell me…I will find out Monday morning and I'd rather hear it from you." Zack insisted.

"I'll tell you if I can have some of that chicken and stuff. My god you've got enough to feed an army." Cissnei said.

"You can sit by me!" Aerith said.

"I thought she hated Cissnei." Tifa whispered to Cloud.

"I guess making out with her drunk cancels it all out." Cloud said sniffing repeatedly.

"So, while they eat what do you say we go start moving Zack and Aerith out of their room?" Tifa asked.

"As allergic as I am to those candles….yes…yes I want to go move them out. You know what they say…paybacks are hell." Cloud stood up and shook Tifa's shoulders. She laughed and stood up with him.


	10. Girls' Night

Aerith gasped. "You're here! You're here! Did you get the stuff?" she was so excited. Tifa started pulling bottles out of the bag in her hands.

"Whiskey, tequila, daiquiri mix, sour mix, margarita mix, vodka, and blue raspberry Jello!" Tifa said lining everything up in front of her. "Oh! And check this out…seasons 1-4!" Tifa said. Aerith was about to burst with excitement. "Wait….wait…I went to the mailbox…I have something else…"

"What is it! What is it! What is it!" Aerith insisted. She squealed at what Tifa put into her hands.

"Oh my god it's my credit card! It's finally here! I can't wait to use this tonight!" Aerith said.

"Alright, my turn! My turn! Okay…I have…302 pages of high quality lingerie selection with promises of free shipping if we get this order called in by 7:30 tonight. Next, I have the menu for Shamsky's!" Aerith said.

"Wait, why should I be excited about Shamsky's menu?" Tifa wondered.

"Because….THEY DELIVER NOW!" Aerith yelled.

"Oh my god!" Tifa said excitedly.

"I know! Okay, okay….I also haaaave…THIS PICTURE OF YOU AND CLOUD THAT I PUT IN THIS FRAME!" Sorry, I didn't mean to yell that, I'm just getting a little worked up!" Aerith said.

"OH MY GOD! THIS IS A GREAT PICTURE, THANK YOU! I mean…yeah…sorry…it just…you really did pick out a nice frame for this." Tifa said.

"Now, close your eyes and take my hands…I have something else for yooooooou! But, it's a surprise!" Aerith said.

Tifa closed her eyes and took Aerith's hands as she had instructed. She walked Tifa through the living room. And flipped on a light. "Okay! Open your eyes!" Aerith said happily. Now, Tifa was by no means an overly girly girl…but the sight before her made Tifa scream like a 5th grader at a pop concert.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Tifa said slightly falling backwards into Aerith.

"See! I knew you'd love it! It's what you picked out the other day at the mall! IT MATCHES YOUR BLACK FURNITURE!" Aerith squealed hugging Tifa.

"Can I sit down on it?" Tifa asked.

"Of course you can, it's your bedding! The comforter is all soft and smooth. I wanted to get you a pillow with bows on it to go with those black and white pillows but I was afraid you'd say it was too girly." Aerith said.

"I love it! It's all so soft and so perfectly matching! I love it!" Tifa repeated.

"This is my gift to you for being a total bitch and getting my period all over your old comforter! See, aren't you glad I ruined it!" Aerith asked excitedly.

"Well, not exactly…I was pretty pissed at you for that….but I love this so much! Thank you, that was really nice of you to do that." Tifa said.

"To be honest Tifa, me and Zack both have been a bit on the high maintenance side lately so we really felt like we owed you and Cloud. I mean, you've not even lived here a week and me and Zack have been complete assholes and acting like we call the shots when in fact I don't even technically live here." Aerith said. Tifa smiled. There was no way in hell she could ever be mad at Aerith long.

"It's okay, Aerith it is. I just thought of something…what if Cloud comes in tonight…sees this and hates it?" Tifa wondered.

"Oh, don't worry. That won't happen. I texted him pictures earlier." Aerith laughed as if she were up to something. "I can't tell you what I wrote in that text message though. Now come on! We have drinks to make and a catalog to go through!" Aerith said pulling on Tifa's arm. "I want to mix all the stuff!" Aerith said rushing for the tequila bottle.

"You are a horrible mixer, Aerith! I do this for a living! Now go sit down and I'll make you a margarita on the rocks. Put season three in! I want to start with that one!" Tifa insisted.

Aerith and Tifa had the apartment to themselves tonight. Zack and Cloud had to work tonight because tonight was the night that Shin-Ra cargo came in on trucks, helicopters and a few small planes. They had the past two days off simply because this would be one hell of a night at Shin-Ra. It would be chaotic and stressful due to the heavy volume of cargo coming in. Anything from weapons to printer paper was being delivered tonight and all deliveries were on a tight schedule that had to be followed. So, here Aerith and Tifa were…their first night alone in the apartment and they had obviously planned it down to the last detail.

"Tifa! Do you want to be the blue, black, red, or purple pen? It's for when we mark this catalog!" Aerith said.

"I want to be purple." Tifa said. "Hey, you need to go get the paper shredder ready because we have to destroy that catalog after we order out of it! There can be no evidence that we have ordered a shit load of slutty stuff."

"Don't worry Tifa, we won't be totally slutty." Aerith reminded her.

"Speak for yourself. If it looks like something I can wear in public I'm not ordering it." Tifa said starting the blender. She paused it after she had crushed the ice for the daiquiris Aerith had requested earlier that day. "By the way, why does Zack own a paper shredder?" Tifa wondered.

"Oh, he's fascinated with it. It's not really his…he took it from the 3rd floor of the Shin-Ra building. He loves to shred things and then run it in reverse to see if the paper goes back together. It's sad actually." Aerith said. "Okay, I'm the red pen. You are going to write down all the prices and I'm going to write down all the ordering information. But first…I'm going to activate my credit card!" Aerith said excitedly.

"Here, start with this margarita. Daiquiris are in the freezer. You activate your card and I'm going to get started." Tifa said sitting down beside Aerith on the couch.

"Here's to lace, sheer chiffon, satin, the perfect garter, and the best sex we ever had." Aerith said holding her glass up to Tifa's.

"I'll drink to that." Tifa said. Tifa started to flip through the first couple pages of this monstrous catalog while Aerith activated her credit card. "By the way, my rule for you is that you must pick out at least three things that aren't pink!" Tifa insisted. They each decided to come up with one spending rule for each other while scanning this catalog. Aerith punched some numbers on the phone.

"My rule for you is that you have to get something with at least one bow. One Tifa! That's all I'm asking." Aerith said. Tifa took a drink of her margarita and sat it on the glad table in front of her and Aerith.

"I can do that." Tifa promised her. Aerith put the phone down and clapped her hands excitedly.

"MY CREDIT CARD IS ACTIVATED!" Aerith yelled. "Okay, how do you want to do this? Are we going to go page by page together? It's 4:30 right now. We have three hours to get through this catalog and have the order placed." Aerith said.

"We can do it. Let's make sure our list is complete by 7:15…that gives us…15 minutes to phone in the order. Oh god I must have that!" Tifa said.

"Ooooh get it in that bright blue! I would want to sleep with you if I saw you in that!" Aerith said.

"Okay, write that down." Tifa said making the first mark in this catalog in purple pen. Aerith made the first entry on the notebook paper they had for this project.

"Yes! They have this thing here in pink!" Aerith looked around. "You know, we are so screwed if the Turks have this place wire tapped and are recording this conversation. You know how they love to monitor me and my sacred bloodline." Aerith said.

"Oh please, Aerith! They stopped watching you after your 5th date with Zack and you know why! Sacred bloodline my ass!" Tifa said laughing at her.

"That is not true! I didn't sleep with Zack until…" Aerith thought a moment. "…alright fine! I did sleep with him on our 5th date!"

"See, now had you given it up to another Ancient…yes the Turks would still be watching you. But now they don't care; you're damaged goods to them." Tifa said still laughing at her.

"Can you believe I slept with him on the 5th date and we're still together ten months later?" Aerith asked.

"No, I really can't. I mean seriously, I can't." Tifa paused. "Why did you sleep with him on your fifth date!"

"I don't know! He was hot…ter than usual that particular date!" Aerith said laughing.

"He was in uniform wasn't he?" Tifa asked making another circle in this catalog.

"Yes! Yes, he was." Aerith admitted.

"What the hell did you all do on that date anyway?" Tifa wondered.

"We had dinner, we made out a lot, and we had sex." Aerith said. Tifa laughed at her.

"I swear to god, Aerith. You kill me. Are you ready for another margarita or do you want that daiquiri now?" Tifa asked.

"I want a daiquiri." Aerith said flipping a few more pages of the catalog. Tifa got up to get it for her. "Oh my god! I found a half price page!" Aerith said excitedly.

"Let me pour this really quickly and I'll look at it with you." Tifa said.

"Hey, what time are Zack and Cloud coming home tonight?" Aerith asked.

"Cloud's shift isn't over until 1:30 in the morning. He said the deliveries started at 4:00 today. I don't know anything about Zack's shift." Tifa said returning to the couch.

"You think it's different?" Aerith wondered.

"Probably. Cloud said the 1st Class would have a better night than his guard group. Zack may be home earlier than 1:30." Tifa explained.

"I hereby promise I will not drink too much in the event that Zack comes home before 1:30. Actually, let me revise that….I hereby promise I will not drink too much tonight." Aerith said.

"I'm holding you to that, sweetie." Tifa said.

"Oh shit…Tifa? What was the one thing we said we would do tonight?" Aerith said.

"Huh? The one thing…" Tifa gasped. "Oh shit! We haven't done any of the laundry and they are bringing home uniforms tonight!" Tifa said turning around and looking at the explosion of laundry behind her.

"Here, don't stop circling on these pages! I'll go get a load in. If we start now it will all be done. How many uniforms does Cloud have?" Aerith asked.

"I have no idea. Why isn't there a laundry room there at Shin-Ra? You and I have heard all these stories about the super nice locker room so why isn't there a laundry facility there?" Tifa wondered.

"I don't know…but that's a good question." Aerith said. It was true that Zack and Cloud always left their uniforms at work and got dressed there. That made it much more convenient leaving things in their lockers and not carrying stuff back and forth. But tonight all their uniforms and anything else washable in their lockers would come home to be cleaned for the next couple weeks. "Okay! There! That load is started; now back to more important things. Hey you know what? We have a lot of Shin-Ra towels. Zack and Cloud have got to stop bringing those home; we're getting too many of them." Aerith said returning to her daiquiri.

"If either of them ever get fired it won't be for poor job performance…it will be for taking too many towels from the locker room showers." Tifa said. Aerith laughed and wrote some more information down from the catalog.

"So how are we doing here? We're tearing up this catalog in a very good way." Aerith said. She looked up at the clock. "It's 5:30 and we have 50 pages left."

"Since we are making good time, I'm going to dog-ear the page I'm on and take a break to look at Shamsky's new take out menu!" Tifa said putting her pen down and picking up the take-out menu. "Ooooh my god, look at this menu. I swear I might get one of everything." Tifa said examining it closely.

"I know! That place has some of the best food ever." Aerith said.

A half-hour later they had completed phase one of their evening. A very large box would be arriving in three to five business days at the bar to avoid it coming to the apartment. Aerith was so excited about her first credit card purchase. They had managed to shred this catalog in fifteen minutes thanks a very well-managed shredding system they had devised.

"Alright, I will call you when the box arrives at the bar. I have to sign for all the deliveries so I'll be sure to get it. But I don't care if you have your little hands full of flowers! You have to drop them all and come to the bar when our order arrives." Tifa said. It was now time to place this order to Shamsky's and make Jello shots. This would be phase two of the evening.

By 10:30 that night Tifa and Aerith had made the stupid choice of putting the scariest movie ever into the DVD player. The phone rang and it scared them both to death. Aerith was closest to it.

"Hello!" she answered it after the initial shock of it ringing.

"Guess what I'm doing right now." Zack asked her.

"Um…unloading stuff…and calling me?" Aerith said.

"No! Listen to this….the Turks….ordered a giant sub…and I have part of it!" Zack said.

"That's…nice." Aerith said. "So hey, what time are you coming home tonight?"

"I'm done at 12:00 so I'll be home at 12:30 or something like that. Of course, I have no clue why they are keeping me here. I haven't done shit. None of 1st Class has done shit. Right now, I'm standing in the control room holding one part of a two way radio and watching Tseng go freaking berserk outside because a chopper is about to slam into the building or something. I mean, he has smoked a pack and a half and he's not even trying to hide it anymore. He's saying every word in the book to everyone around him." Zack said.

"Ooooh what else is happening!" Aerith asked completely absorbed now.

"Well, I'm watching Cissnei ignore Tseng's rage because she is too busy staying on the lap of her new found 1st Class boyfriend. She has no idea that I can see where this guy's hands are right now. Oh! And listen to this…me and two other 1st guys are trying to bounce a bouncy ball down the stair well to the 3rd floor elevator and then send it down the elevator to the 1st floor lobby. If someone doesn't come up here and make us do something…we WILL accomplish this!" Zack said.

"So, Shin-Ra is paying you time and a half to screw around with a bouncy ball?" Aerith asked.

"Pretty much, yeah. But we'll pay for it later….we'll have to do something all intense and stuff some other time. 2nd Class is doing a little more than we are but not much. Don't worry though; 3rd, 4th class and the infantry guards are working their asses off. Yeah, you might want to tell Tifa she is soooo not gonna' get any tonight because Cloud is going to be dead after the hell they are putting the guards through. I just wanted to call you and say hi. I love you and I'll see you soon." Zack said.

"I love you too, bye." Aerith hung up the phone. "Zack says they are trying to kill your boyfriend."

"Hold on, don't unpause that!" Tifa said getting up from the couch. She rummaged around in the kitchen for a plastic bag.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aerith wondered as she watched Tifa fill the bag full of ice.

"Something tells me I need to have an ice pack and a bottle of aspirin ready for when Cloud comes in. It sounds like he may need it." Tifa said.

"You're so good at taking care of us, Tifa! Like that one day when you packed Zack's lunch, and how you helped me bring all those flowers home so I could work on the arrangements for that wedding! You just do it all, Tifa!" Aerith said.

"Believe me Aerith, I do _not_ take care of you and Zack the same way I take care of Cloud." Tifa laughed.


	11. Boys' Night

"Cloud! Tonight…is our night of debauchery! We can do everything we've always wanted to do that Aerith and Tifa never let us do!" Zack said excitedly. Cloud looked at him for a moment.

"And that would be…?" Cloud questioned him.

"We can…" Zack had to think since he knew he wasn't _actually_ prepared to answer this question. "…ha! We can put drinks on the table without a coaster! Look at this, Cloud! Look at this! My glass…on table….no coaster!" Zack said pointing to it. "Of course…we wouldn't want a ring there so I better grab one. Oh! Oh! We can finally watch every porno we own tonight!"

"Okay first…we don't own any…secondly…that is pretty much the last thing I would ever want to do with you."

"Oh my god! Let's go play pool! Please, please let's do that! We haven't had time to do that for so long!" Zack begged. Cloud laughed at him.

"Zack, we've have plenty of time….but Tifa has beaten you for five straight games in a row and so you haven't wanted to play. But yeah, that's a great idea. We should do that." Cloud said.

"Hey, she has an unfair advantage and so does Aerith, for that matter!" Zack insisted.

"You can't blame your suckish pool skills on their breasts. So where do you want to go play?" Cloud said.

"Mikey's. They have half price beer tonight." Zack said standing up. "Let's go! If we leave now we'll beat the after work crowd." Zack said picking up all the money that was laying on the counter. Zack and Cloud were on their own tonight much like the night that Aerith and Tifa were on their own. Tifa was working until midnight tonight and Aerith was at an out of town wedding of which she was in charge of flowers. There was no telling when she would be back because the ceremony didn't even begin until 8:00 that night. She would be working on centerpieces for the reception while the ceremony took place. Unlike Aerith and Tifa's night, which had happened about two weeks prior, Zack and Cloud had NO details of their night planned. It was all going to happen at the spur of a moment.

They headed out of the apartment to spend half the night at Mikey's. It was only one bus stop away but they decided to walk. There wasn't any real reason to take the bus tonight. "Hey what were you all doing on the range today?" Zack asked. Cloud sighed.

"Oh god, I don't know. It was pointless. We were 'learning' about shit we already know how to do. We fired and cleaned every damn weapon down there. It seemed like that anyway." Cloud said.

"Who ordered that? Lazard? I have never seen that many guns out at one time." Zack said.

"He might have. I have no clue why we had to do that. If you would see how many empty shells we left down there today you would freak. Someone had a lot of work on their hands cleaning those shells up." Cloud said.

"Hey, you know what you should do, Take Tifa to the range one day. Let her unload a couple clips. That would totally get those guys down there going. She may even make a few of them unload their own clip if you know what I'm saying. " Zack said.

"Yes, Zack. That's exactly what I should do...take my girlfriend into a land of sex-starved infantry guards." Cloud's sarcasm said it all.

"Well, I mean you'll be there with her! No! No! I'm serious! Okay, here's what you do…this is good. Since you all desperately need some vag down there on your floor here's what you do. Tell her to come have lunch with you. Then, get one of those smaller handguns and see how she does hitting the targets. Since I'm thinking she will probably do fine with that then give her one of the big semi-automatics. I'm talking about the ones that have tons of kick in them. I'm telling you man, you will be a god down there on your floor if you show them Tifa." Zack said.

"But remember, Tifa isn't Aerith. Unlike Aerith, Tifa would be horribly uncomfortable with that much attention. Now, I know when Aerith has lunch with you; you parade her around the SOLDIER floor like nothing else." Cloud said. Zack laughed.

"You're right! I do! But Cloud, you're missing the best part of this whole scenario. When Aerith leaves I get to remind everyone up there that she's mine…not theirs…mine. And, and…I get to remind them that I'm hittin' that hard and heavy." Zack said.

"Yeah, see I just don't care if anyone else I work with knows that I have a freaking beautiful girlfriend. I have Tifa's picture in my locker and that generates enough attention." Cloud said as they approached their destination.

"Cloud, you are getting more action than any other guy down there could even think about getting. You need to draw more attention to that fact. Wait…what's she doing in the picture you have?" Zack asked.

"It's me and her in one of the choppers. You took it." Cloud said.

"Well no wonder! That picture is smokin' hot of her! Anytime someone sees that picture you should tell them that you're getting a piece of that four times a week plus some. " Zack insisted. "Hey, what do you want to drink? You go get us a pool table before they are all taken."

"Something dark, it doesn't matter." Cloud said as he and Zack went their separate ways. The place wasn't all that crowded yet; just a few regulars. Zack wasn't gone long.

"You know it's funny…we're at a bar….yet Tifa works at a bar…kinda' makes you wonder why we didn't go see her instead." Zack said handing a tall glass to Cloud and sitting a pitcher on the edge of the pool table.

"Because you wanted to play pool and there is no pool at 7th Heaven." Cloud said.

"Oh yeah…that's right." Zack said.

"Is there a reason you got a pitcher?" Cloud asked Zack only slightly surprised by this.

"Because it was super cheap so we're going to have put at least four of these away tonight." Zack said.

"Zack, we will be absolutely shitfaced if we drink four pitchers." Cloud said.

"I know! It'll be great" Zack said racking up the pool balls before him. He took a drink first and then made the break on the table. "I'm stripes." Zack said.

"I should have known. You're always stripes." Cloud said sliding a rosin block over to Zack.

"How exactly did Tifa get so good at pool?" Zack asked taking a drink while Cloud made his shot.

"Tifa is good at a lot of things, Zack." Cloud said.

"Well, I know for sure she's good at giving one hell of a blow job in the mornings because there are so many mornings when you are completely out of it on the bus." Zack said taking his turn.

"Every sense I have is overly heightened in the morning and Tifa takes advantage of that…a lot. Then when you and I leave; you're right I'm a complete zombie on the bus. I wouldn't have it any other way, actually." Cloud said.

"I…don't blame you a bit." Zack said.

"So, Aerith and Tifa found a place." Cloud said watching Zack line his next shot.

"Yeah, it's exciting. It's four and a half blocks from us and I think Aerith is really happy about living with Tifa again." Zack said.

"Yep…they um….they're supposed to be in it at the beginning of the month. That's like…what….three weeks from now?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, three weeks. Just think, Cloud. It's going to be you and me again. Just us!" Zack said.

"Just us…" Cloud repeated.

"Yeah, yeah…just us." Zack watched as Cloud prepared his shot. He had it lined up to the pocket but stopped before he hit it in. He sighed.

"I don't want them to move out, Zack." Cloud said.

"I don't either! They can't leave us, Cloud! They just can't move out! If they move out, it's going to be just us! I'm the only SOLDIER 1st class that can say he lives with two women!" Zack said panicking. Cloud looked puzzled.

"Zack, you have a very strange perspective on things sometimes." He said.

"We have to think of something, Cloud! Listen, I normally wouldn't tell just anyone this… but you are my best friend and the best roommate ever so that's why I'm going to tell you. I can't sleep without Aerith. Anytime she goes back to her apartment and actually stays there…well I stare at the ceiling half the night because I worry about her. I can't not have her beside me." Zack confessed.

"I understand…I do. So what do we do? They are going to start packing up in a couple weeks." Cloud said. Zack refilled his tall glass from the pitcher beside him.

"I don't know. I have to think." Zack said taking a drink.

"Aerith always has a smile on her face…I mean, always. That's just nice, you know?" Cloud said.

"Yeah, and Tifa is the best damn cook in the whole world." Zack said still thinking.

"I like how Aerith wants us to take care of everything…not just the flowers but…she takes a lot of pride in keeping things neat...most of the time, anyway." Cloud said.

"Tifa is the only girl ever who would watch Top Prison Cops with me. She actually likes that show, did you know that?" Zack said.

"Yeah she….also likes those shark shows. You know the ones where the ocean people get in the cages and feed great whites giant chunks of meat. If she moves out; who would I watch that show with!" Cloud asked.

"Oh my god….I have an idea! Let's rent a house! That's it Cloud! We will rent a house! There are always listings in the paper and with all four of us paying rent we could get a nice place!" Zack said coming up with a solution.

"That…is a great idea. Rent a house! Why didn't we think of that earlier when Aerith and Tifa were looking for apartments?" Cloud wondered.

"Because, Cloud! This is the first time we've thought with _brains_ for a long time! Oh my god…." Zack stopped talking for a minute.

"What! What is it?" Cloud asked.

"Us renting a house means that…" Zack took a deep breath. "…we will have room for a fifty inch TV." Cloud gasped.

"Oooh wow….we would." Cloud said.

"And, we would finally have plenty of room to be the party hosts. _Our_ house would be the place to be, Cloud." Zack's mind was in a whirl.

"I typically hate social events but if we're the hosts…well that would be different." Cloud said.

"Oh my god, Cloud! Come on we have to go buy our TV now!" Zack said getting too worked up.

"No, no. Just hold on….we need to think about this. We need to look at some listings and go see some places." Cloud said.

"I've gotta call Aerith and tell her about this!" Zack said getting his phone of out his pocket.

"Wait, wait! Don't tell her yet. We'll tell Aerith and Tifa together. Just hold on, man." Cloud said.

"Yeah you're right. I'm getting a little carried away. Now, when we're looking at places you do realize that Aerith is going to be the toughest to please. In case you haven't noticed, she has to have the best of everything." Zack took a drink and sat his glass back down. "That's why she has me." He winked at Cloud.

"Zack, I am the only person that realizes you are only half kidding when you say that." Cloud couldn't help but laugh at him.

"So it's settled! We…are going to have a house." Zack said. Cloud smiled at him.

"You know, we're still roommates even if we have a house. We're just roommates with a lot more space."

"We…will always be roommates, Cloud." Zack reassured him. They were getting ready to start another round of pool when Zack turned around to the sound of his name.

"Oh my god! SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair! I cannot believe it…" one thing was certain: this girl was drunk and it was likely that the other two girls with her were drunk as well. "This is like….wow….you are even hotter in person. Oh my god! Will you sign my bra! I will soooo be the fan club president if you'll do that. So obviously, these three were fan club members.

"SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair is always on the job. So where should I….wow you don't waste any time do you?" Zack said as this girl shoved a marker at him.

"Just…just right there. I mean right on the satin. That will be great!" This girl practically fell over as she said it.

"Yeah, okay." Zack said slapping his signature on her bra without any hesitation.

"Holy shit, thank you Zack Fair! I'm your biggest fan, ever! Don't you worry beautiful, this….will make front page of our newsletter!" his crazed fan ensured him. Thank god this girl had two other friends there that could make sure she didn't maul him to death. And with that, she left.

"Oh my god, Cloud! I have a newsletter!" Zack said excitedly. "I wonder if I can get a copy of it to…okay, why are you looking at me like that?"

"You just signed some random drunk girl's bra." Cloud reminded him as he broke the rack of balls on the table.

"Hey, she is going to get president of my club because of that!" Zack said laughing at him.

"I swear, you kill me. Its times like this that you leave me speechless." Cloud said. Zack laughed again.

"I have an idea. Let's get another pitcher and take it out to that table they have in the back yard and go through a newspaper. I'm sure the bartender will give us one." Zack said.

"Okay, yeah. Maybe we can arrange to see some places after we tell Tifa and Aerith."

"What do you think their reactions will be?" Zack asked as he and Cloud picked up their glasses and headed up to the bar.

"I think they will be totally excited about it." Cloud said.

"Yeah, me too. Hey, do you have a copy of today's paper back there?" Zack asked the bartender.


	12. One Celebratory Drink

"Is it supposed to itch like this?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, it itches a little." Tifa answered her.

"But this itches a lot." Aerith said scratching all around the gauze taped to her arm.

"Would you stop picking at that! What did I tell you?" Tifa insisted.

"You said it might itch _a little_ for two to three hours." Aerith said.

"What else did I tell you?" Tifa asked.

"Use backup contraception for one week. Oh, and thanks for letting me bury my face in your shoulder today so I wouldn't have to look at the needle." Aerith said gratefully.

"You're welcome. But…if you hate needles that much why didn't you just let the doctor put you on the pill?' Tifa asked.

"Because, I'm kinda' stupid sometimes I would forget to take that easily." Aerith said.

"That's a good answer, actually. I can respect that but I can't believe it took me promising to get the shot _with_ you from now on to get that needle in your arm." Tifa said.

"I can't do that alone! It's super scary! How can you stand to just throw your arm out there and let them shoot you like that!" Aerith asked a bit excitedly.

"Stop scratching that! And to answer your question, it just doesn't bother me." Tifa said.

"So what can I expect?" Aerith asked wide eyed.

"Oh, I am so not telling you. Just wait and see…" Tifa said.

"Fine, but I don't appreciate your holding out on me. Anyway, what um…what do you think Zack and Cloud are going to tell us today?" Aerith wondered.

"I think…one or both of them is going to jail for something really stupid." Tifa said.

"You mean like a traffic violation?" Aerith asked seriously and somewhat surprised.

"No, no. I mean like…like…one of them daring the other one to pull the fire alarm at the Shin-Ra building." Tifa said.

"And by one daring the other one you mean Zack daring…" Tifa cut Aerith off.

"That's totally what I mean." Tifa said.

"Yeah." Aerith said.

"Yeah." Tifa said after her.

"You know what I think? I think…they're going to tell us…that they got fired. Whatever it is, they are in it together because they said 'we' have to talk to you about something." Aerith said.

"Well, whatever the case we are going to find out soon. We should probably get some bail money ready…you know, just in case. And stop scratching that!" Tifa said only kidding about the bail money. The front door opened and Zack and Cloud walked in.

"Oh god…here it comes. Get ready Tifa, we may have to run out of here really fast." Aerith said softly.

"Good! You're both….what's that on your arm?" Zack asked Aerith immediately sidetracked.

"The same thing that's on her arm." Aerith said.

"Wow…okay…wow…we will definitely…use that…um….are you two busy right now?" Zack asked.

"Yes, Zack we're slammed right now." Tifa said sarcastically.

"Great! Alright, me and Cloud have to ask you two something." Zack said. Aerith quickly looked at Tifa.

"We know that you two are supposed to move out really soon. But, instead of moving out to this new apartment you found…" Cloud stopped there.

"Move in with us please! We'll get a house! A House! Please! Don't move to some other apartment. If you two move out me and Cloud…won't be living with you two!" Zack said excitedly.

"Oh my god are you serious! Hell yeah we will!" Aerith shrieked throwing her arms around Zack.

"That's…what you two were anticipating asking us? Fuck, why wouldn't we do that? And why didn't anyone think of that earlier?" Tifa asked.

"We don't know!" Zack said.

"Here, come look. We looked at all the listings the other night and we found six houses that we thought would be worth looking at." Cloud said sitting beside Tifa to show her the newspaper they had taken from the bar two nights ago.

"I'll call and cancel our lease right now!" Aerith said rushing into the kitchen to get the phone.

"All of these houses are nearby so that's good. I could call tomorrow morning and arrange to see some or all of these. I never go to work before noon anyway." Tifa said. "Aerith and I haven't started packing yet so I could also look in to getting some extra boxes for when we do move."

"Okay! Our lease is cancelled! Hey! Tifa! Forget calling tomorrow; let's see if we can look at one of the places today!" Aerith said hurrying over to the couch and snatching the newspaper away from Cloud. "You pick, Cloud! Which property owner do you want me to call!" Aerith asked happily.

"It doesn't matter. You and Tifa choose which one." Cloud said.

"Okay, Tifa which one?" Aerith asked shoving the paper in her face.

"Just call the first entry that's circled." Tifa said. Fortunately, Aerith had brought the phone with her to the couch this time.

"What did you think we had to tell you?" Zack asked Tifa.

"I figured you two had done something idiotic and me and Aerith were going to somehow have to come to your rescue. I used jail as a specific example, in fact." Tifa confessed. Zack laughed at her.

"I will be the first to admit that me and Zack have done so really idiotic stuff but I don't think any of it would land us in jail." Cloud said laughing at some of the stuff they had done.

"Oh god, like the time we dropped all those pens down the registers on the Shin-Ra Visitor floor to see if we could hear them clang through the duct work and hit the basement floor. I wonder if maintenance ever found all those?" Zack said remembering when he and Cloud had attempted this 'experiment'. Tifa shook her head.

"You two are so stupid sometimes." She said.

"Okay! It's done! We're going to go see the first property today at 5:30!" Aerith said happily.

"You do realize that is thirty minutes from now?" Zack said looking over at the clock.

"I do now." Aerith said.

"I have an idea. If we're going to see one place tonight, why don't you call another one and see if we can see two properties tonight? Tifa can call another one tomorrow." Zack suggested.

"Yes! Perfect! I'll call another one! See Zack! This is why I love you!" Aerith said as she grabbed the phone again. "This is one of the coolest days ever!" she added. Who would have thought Aerith would get such a thrill over scheduling property viewings?

"We should drink to this…hey do you ever wonder if we drink too much?" Zack asked walking over to the refrigerator.

"We only drink on occasional Fridays and Saturdays." Cloud said.

"But today is Tuesday. It doesn't matter though because this is just one celebratory drink. You know the irony in all this is that Tifa is a bartender and she drinks the least of all of us." Zack said.

"That's a very good point actually. I have a question, how in the world are we going to get all of this furniture in here moved to whatever house it is we move into?" Cloud asked as he joined Zack.

"Cissnei could not be fucking a fellow SOLDIER 1st Class at a better time because he owns a truck. I'll talk to her and see if they will help us move." Zack said.

"It's done! Elm Avenue property at 5:30 and 17th Street property at 7:30! I'm so excited! By the way, the 5th street property has been rented and there was a typo in the paper and the Huston Street property is actually a business listing, not residential." Aerith said.

"So then actually, that leaves us looking at Elm, 17th Street and 30th Street, which you didn't get a hold of tonight." Zack said.

"One of those will definitely suit us, I'm sure. I will cal 30th Street tomorrow." Tifa said taking the vodka and tomato juice out of Zack's hand and showing him the appropriate way of making a bloody Mary. "Why do you want a bloody Mary anyway? Look at you, Zack! You're measuring everything all wrong." Tifa said.

"Bloody Mary's are spicy and I want something spicy right now." Zack said. Tifa made in about two minutes what would have taken Zack ten. She handed it over to him and leaned up against Cloud.

"Zack! We don't have time to drink! We have to leave soon!" Aerith said joining everyone in the kitchen. She was quickly distracted however by Zack shoving a shot glass in her hand. This was a one celebratory drink limit so for Aerith that meant it was a one shot limit as well.

"Well, hell I might as well swallow one of those too." Tifa said opening up the cabinet above her to get a shot glass.

"I'll do one with you and Aerith. I hate bloody Mary's." Cloud said reaching over Tifa's head to get another shot glass out of the cabinet.

"Aerith! You can't have Zack scratch your arm for you! That's the same as you scratching it!" Tifa scolded her.

"But it still itches!" Aerith said.

"If you just leave it alone it will stop itching!" Tifa insisted swallowing her shot down quickly.

"Come on let's go. It's 5:10." Cloud said looking at the clock. Within minutes the four of them had stacked glasses up in the sink and were out the door.

This would be an interesting evening. Cloud would look at the houses from a logical standpoint, Zack would be completely impulsive, Tifa would ask the landlord a hell of a lot of questions, and Aerith would most certainly want the very best property of them all regardless of cost. Between the four of them it was going to be a three ring circus.

Short chapter on purpose everyone! You'll see more in the next!


	13. How it Used to Be

"You look sleepy. Have you been up all night?" Zack asked raising his eyebrows at Cissnei. Cissnei yawned and looked at him as if she might kill him.

"It's seven-fucking-thirty on a Saturday. I never get up this early on a Saturday." Cissnei said.

"It's because you're worn out from all the sex, right?" Zack asked her.

"It's because I deal with your ass on a daily basis." Cissnei said yawning again. "And about all those stupid brochures you and Tseng left on my desk…" Zack laughed at her.

"How did you know Tseng was in on that? He asked opening up all the cabinets in the kitchen to make certain they had emptied them all the night before.

"Because! It was obvious that you all took those brochures from the clinic and only Tseng has a key to the clinic! I especially appreciated the 'Eating Disorders' and 'Drunk Driving' brochures!" Cissnei said rolling her eyes in disgust. The day before Zack and Tseng had taken a copy of every brochure in the health clinic at the Shin-Ra building and spread them out on Cissnei's desk. The informational brochures ranged from STD prevention to eating a well balanced diet. Leave it to Zack and Tseng to irritate Cissnei yet again during a work week at Shin-Ra. Zack laughed at her again.

"Seriously, which was worse the brochures on your desk or last week when Tseng called the radio and dedicated that sexy chick song to you." Zack asked her. Cissnei shook her head.

"I was in a meeting! A meeting! I was in a fucking meeting trying to get the budget increased for supplies! Tseng had this stupid ass look on his face and then the radio announcer came on and then that happened! He is such an idiot!" Cissnei said emphatically. "Alright, so…what exactly is the system today?"

"The big stuff goes first. But listen, me and Cloud kind of bought a 50 inch TV yesterday…and we told the store we would pick it up today at 5:30." Zack said hoping that Cissnei wouldn't flip over volunteering her boyfriend to pick up this TV.

"Okay…and I'm guessing you need to truck to pick something like that up?" Cissnei asked.

"Yes! You're so right! Don't worry…the four of us have every intention of taking you two to dinner tonight for all this." Zack said.

"Aww, well in that case hell let's move whatever you want." Cissnei said.

"We'll even let you two pick where you want to go." Zack said.

"Oooh, now I'm getting excited. By the way…how in the world did you and Cloud pay cash for a 50 inch TV?" Cissnei wondered.

"We sell crack and other hard core drugs in the Shin-Ra building alley on our lunch hours. No, no…I'm playin'. See, Aerith got this credit card and in exchange for the use of that card I told her that I signed some drunk fan club girls' bra at Mikey's a few nights ago. It was a win, win situation because Cloud was pissed at me for not having told her about that yet which I was sooo going to tell her I swear! Anyway…that's how we paid for it!" Zack explained.

"Couldn't you have just asked Aerith to use her card?" Cissnei asked.

"Well, yeah…but that wouldn't have been fun at all. I had to put some kind of leverage against it and since I was going to tell her anyway…" Zack said.

"I will never understand you. Okay, we need to get to work. Here's what I think; you and Cloud get with him and move all this heavy ass shit." Cissnei said pointing to her boyfriend behind her. "I will go see whatever it is Aerith and Tifa need." Cissnei glanced around. "I don't know Tifa that well so I hope I can get to know her better today." She said softly.

"You will love her." Zack reassured Cissnei. He left Cissnei to go help her boyfriend make a ramp that lead up into the back of the truck.

The decision on the house had been a quick one. The Elm Street property was an absolute mess, the 17th street property was a bad area and no one had really thought of that when they went to see it. That left the 30th street property which made everyone a little nervous because it was either that property or nothing until the new listings came out. The 30th Street property had a termite infestation which meant they were out of luck….so they thought. The landlord from the 5th street property called and stated that the tenants relinquished the contract and that the property was available. It only took Aerith 30 seconds to fall in love with the place. She begged Zack to move in immediately but he had to remind her a dozen times that this decision was not all about her and him. However, this new house they were going to on 5th Avenue was perfect. Three bedrooms two and a half baths; it was more space than any of them had lived in for the past two years. Aerith fell in love with the fireplace in one of the room and immediately declared that her and Zack's room. Zack would never, _ever_ say no to Aerith. _Anything_ she wanted…she got. Neither Cloud nor Tifa even bothered to challenge her for the fireplace room.

The best part about the 5th street property was that the landlord agreed to wavier the initial 1500 gil security deposit if the four of them agreed to paint the place. It was a very nice house; the only problem was that when it was built 18 months prior it had never been moved into and therefore was left unpainted. It was going to be one hell of a job because _both_ floors of the house required paint. There wasn't a single room that even had a lick of color on them; just pale, sanded sheetrock. No one had lived here previously which was an absolute dream because there was no such thing in the city.

The goal was to be out of this apartment within two days which meant there was a lot of work to be done. All of the furniture was supposed to be cleared out of the apartment on this first day followed by picking out and buying the paint. The second day would be reserved for moving everything else that didn't get moved this first day.

"Hey, what's going on? I haven't seen you since you and I went on that mission up north." Zack said approaching Cissnei's boyfriend outside.

"Hey, man. Yeah that mission was the last time we actually did something together. So, you show me what we need to do and we can start getting stuff loaded." He said. Zack lead him inside the soon to be vacated apartment. He and Zack were going to first load their huge couch and take it to the house; then come back for another load. Zack instructed Cloud to push all the stuff lined up in the living room toward the door. Thank god for furniture sliders to make this job easier.

"My god, girl! Why do you have so many pink clothes?" Cissnei asked Aerith taking clothes out of Aerith's closet.

"I don't have a lot of pink clothes." Aerith insisted.

"Pink, pink, pink, pink….pink….kind of pink, green. That's six pinks to one green. Now, where do I put these?" Cissnei asked with her hands full.

"My clothes and Zack's clothes go in that big box." Aerith said pointing to a box at the end of the bed.

"Oh….the one that says Zack and Aerith's clothes. That makes perfect sense." Cissnei said throwing the pile in her hands into the box. "Shit…did you want me to take the hangers off?"

"No, it's fine. You do that and I will get Zack's stuff out of his drawers." Aerith said stepping over piles in the floor. Cloud and Tifa's room looked very similar to the scene in Zack and Aerith's room. This packing was interrupted by Zack screaming every four letter word there was from the doorway of the apartment. Aerith, Cissnei, and Tifa rushed out into the living room to see what was going on.

"I just broke our dishes! I just broke every fucking dish we own because I dropped the damn box because I am an idiot!" Zack shouted mortified by what he had done.

"Zack, it's okay…just chill." Cloud tried to get him to calm down and rationalize this.

"Cloud! I just broke everything! I broke it all man, I broke it all! Zack wasn't convinced. Aerith and Cissnei stared around Zack at the horrible pile of porcelain-like material spewed all over the front steps. Aerith wanted to hit him for doing something so stupid but was speechless.

"I'll get a broom and we'll just sweep this mess up and we'll worry about new dishes later." Cloud said moving Zack out of the door.

"God, you're an animal in bed aren't you?" Cissnei asked Cloud. That was a totally unexpected comment for this situation. It just came out of nowhere but Cissnei was good at that. Zack, Cloud Aerith and Tifa laughed at her.

"I'm serious! I'm serious! Look, Zack's all freaking the fuck out and you're just all calm and collected about this. You're all…it's no big deal and he's like ready two seconds from imploding." Cissnei said.

"So what exactly is your logic?" Cloud asked her still laughing.

"Look at you! You're just standing there, all quiet and not getting all worked up over the fact that Zack fucked the dishes over….I'm telling ya'…gotta' watch guys like you. You don't have much to say but shit…get you behind closed doors and look out. Where did Tifa go? I need her to confirm that I'm right." Cissnei said noticing Tifa had obviously fled the scene before she was interrogated.

"Now that Cissnei has successfully distracted me from breaking these dishes and also has lead me to question my own abilities in bed…I need to go get in the truck. Cloud, come on and help me hold everything. Have a load ready for when we get back." Zack said as he left the monstrosity he created. Cloud was right though; it wasn't _that_ big a deal. They could replace the dishes later…problem solved.

"Let's get to work girls, we aren't even halfway done." Aerith said. It was true they kind of felt like they were spinning wheels since the big stuff had to get moved before anything else could be pushed out into the now couch-less living room. It looked strange not having their large sectional sofa taking up the majority of the floor. Life was definitely changing, and the absence of this couch was proof of that. Zack and Cloud had been living together only eight months; it was even less time than Zack and Aerith had been together. It started out as two guys who shared their lives and an apartment. It had turned into this…whatever one could call _this_. _This_…however was one hell of a good life. Not that life wasn't great when it was just Zack and Cloud and then Zack and Aerith four days a week and Cloud; it was just now the puzzle was complete.

Living with Cloud had settled Zack down in several ways and living with Zack had made Cloud a slightly more recognizable figure at Shin-Ra. But now, they lived in a world where Tifa emptied her tip apron all over the kitchen counter, leaving countless bottle caps in the wake of her earnings and where Aerith constantly stuck pink Post-It notes on the refrigerator with various reminders on them. Neither Cloud nor Zack would ever go back to a life where there weren't bottle caps laying all over the counter or the fridge wasn't strewn with Post-Its.

"Is this seriously a box of lingerie? You mean to tell me that's all that's in this box?" Cissnei said looking at the box that Aerith and Tifa had already packed up the night before but hadn't yet taped shut. They had decided to pack everything in the same box and label it so nothing would get ripped in the moving process.

"Yep! That's what is in the box. Me and Tifa are going to need to hang everything up when we get to the house otherwise there will be wrinkles in everything. Isn't that right Tifa?" Aerith asked as Tifa brought another piece to throw into the box.

"Look at this?" Tifa said holding up sheer black fabric against her. "There are three stains on this, Aerith…honey do you really think I'm concerned about wrinkles? No, sweetie, I'm concerned about finding a bottle of Woolite." Tifa said throwing it into the box. "But, yeah, yeah we'll hang up whatever you want." Tifa said disappearing to get another box.

"God, you two are too funny. I have so much to learn and shit…I have got to be with the best teachers ever." Things were moving along. The three of them managed to get a few more boxes packed and shoved toward the front door. Once Cissnei's boyfriend returned with Zack, Cloud and the truck they would load it up again and everyone would head for the house.

My apologies for the slow update! It's been a busy week. I thought this chapter was going to be longer but I ended it here instead. More to come!


	14. No Sex in the Kitchen

"So how many guys have you dated?" Cissnei asked as she spread paint samples out on the floor. Everyone was so exhausted from all the moving. It was 8:30 PM and it was hard to believe that this was going to be the first night in the new house. It would be strange not being in the apartment tonight. There had been a lot of progress made today however in the final load Zack and Cloud realized that they had forgotten to bring the bed frames over which left their mattresses on the floor and they had also forgotten to go to the storage unit of Tifa's to pick up three more pieces of furniture. It was alright, it could wait for tomorrow. This was turning out to be an entertaining evening. There was a 50 inch TV still in the box and countless paint samples laying everywhere.

"I've only dated Zack." Aerith said sorting some more samples out in front of her.

"Are you serious! Does that mean he's the only guy you've slept with also?" Cissnei asked a bit surprised by this.

"Yes." Aerith said pushing the paint samples aside and opening a box of bread sticks in front of her. Cissnei and her boyfriend had decided that instead of going out for dinner it would be more fun to have pizza delivered; not to mention they were all too tired to go out anyway. Pizza was something that didn't require dishes and it was the perfect way to christen this house. They all must have been starving when they placed this order because they were sitting around three pizzas, one order of breadsticks and one order of buffalo hot wings.

"Oh, Aerith I can't believe he would do that to you! Take a sweet virgin girl like you and absolutely ruin you and your precious bloodline!" Cissnei said. Zack was in the other room sorting paint samples. Tifa and Cloud laughed at Cissnei.

"I heard that in there! You're mean Cissnei! Aerith, will you bring me some more pizza?" Zack called to her from the other room.

"Hold on a minute." Aerith said.

"Zack do you want to tell us how many women you've slept with?" Cissnei yelled at him.

"Hey…that is…that is not important right now. Let's talk about you Cissnei." Zack yelled back at her.

"He thinks it's some big secret I'm keeping from Riko." Cissnei said referring to her boyfriend.

"She's been through half the SOLDIER floor Riko! I bet it's like…like throwing a hotdog down a hallway." Zack yelled again. They were all laughing at Zack. Aerith just shook her head and got up to go get Zack's paper plate. Thank god the delivery guy had left some paper plates.

"First of all four is not half the SOLDIER floor and secondly Zack, if it weren't for Aerith you would still be fucking anything in a skirt. Okay, I want to bother Tifa now." Cissnei said. Her boyfriend Riko, Cloud and Tifa were still laughing at her.

"Okay, okay…let me get it together here. I'll make this easy for you. It's just been me and Cloud." Tifa said. Cloud put his arms around her.

"I don't know which one of you are more precious, Tifa…you or him." Cissnei shook her head.

"Oh my god! I just found a paint sample called 'cloud'! Cloud, you and Tifa should paint your room this color! Then, when people come over here and ask what color your room is…you can say…it's cloud and it would be you!" Zack said excitedly. "Oh my god! I wonder if there is one called Zack? Would that kick major ass or what? That would be a totally hot color if there was a Zack."

"Yes, because that's the first things house guests ask when they come over…what is your wall color." Cloud said sarcastically.

"I can't believe Aerith puts up with that…let alone sleeps with it." Cissnei said. Aerith hadn't come back into the main living room yet; she was in the other room sitting on the floor and eating with Zack. The sectional sofa was covered with a paint drip cloth and the table was piled high with stuff so Cissnei, her boyfriend, Tifa and Cloud were in the floor in the living room. It was also interesting because Aerith had lingerie hanging all over the place since she was so concerned about wrinkles…none of them had ever eaten pizza surrounded by lace and satin.

"It's all echo-y in here. Can you hear my voice echoing?" Zack asked from the other room.

"That's fascinating Zack!" Cloud yelled back at him. He didn't really answer Zack.

"How do you two live with him? Does he do stupid shit like this all the time?" Cissnei asked.

"All the time." Cloud and Tifa said in near unison.

"You get used to it." Tifa said.

"This is a nice house. You all are lucky to have found this place. And for what it's worth, I think this would be a nice color for this room." Cissnei said pointing to one of the paint samples. Cloud shook his head.

"My inner interior designer likes that one." Cloud said. "What's it called anyway? Cloud examined the card to see what the name of this color was.

"Oh my god! This paint color is called 'fair'! Oh my god, this is my color!" Zack yelled from the other room. "Oooooh wow…I'm awesome!"

"Zack, since you are obviously just playing in the paint samples why don't you come back here and actually make yourself useful. Come help pick out colors so we know what to buy tomorrow." Cloud suggested.

"What if I want to paint the whole house fair?" Zack asked him.

"We're not painting the house fair, Zack! Now get in here!" Tifa yelled at him. "Oh and while I'm thinking about it we need to have a new rule for the house. The rule is going to be no one has sex on the table or on the counter tops!" Cissnei and her boyfriend thought this was hysterical.

"Oh Tifa! Come on now! Just because Cloud doesn't know what he's doing doesn't mean you have to take it out on those of us that do!" Zack said loudly.

"That was an accident! I did not intend for her head to bang into the corner of the cabinet the way it did!" Cloud tried to defend himself.

"Man, you didn't scope things out first! You and Tifa both worked late that day and you were just so horny to see her and she was tearing her clothes off as fast as she could and you didn't look at the edge of the cabinetry when you picked her up and sat her on the edge of the counter. You banged her hard and I don't mean in a good way either." Zack said. Tifa couldn't stop laughing because unfortunately, Zack was actually right about this one.

"I agree with Tifa that we need to have a very strict no sex in the kitchen rule. Let's face it…it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." Cloud said. Cissnei and Riko were still in stitches over this. Naturally, Zack and Aerith would _have_ to walk back into the room when Cissnei was falling over in Riko's lap from laughing so hard.

"Cissnei, you're not doing it right. Get your face out of his lap until you learn what you're doing." Zack said teasing her.

"I can't believe you actually have to set a rule for this!" Cissnei said through her wild laughter.

"This is serious stuff Cissnei! Can you imagine the explanation if I would have had to take Tifa to the emergency room that night?" Cloud asked her. That made Cissnei laugh even harder. Cissnei had tears in her eyes she was laughing so hard.

"Oh my god! If you ever have us over for dinner one night or something I am so not eating on your table." Cissnei said.

"No! No! The rule! It's going to be okay Cissnei. With the rule in place you won't have to worry about what's been happening on the table or the counter." Tifa insisted.

"This is absolutely the funniest shit I've heard all day." Cissnei said.

"Should we extend the rule to the couch?" Aerith wondered.

"Wait…has anyone gotten hurt there? 'Cause I mean…if no one's gotten hurt there…its fair game." Zack said seriously. That sent Riko wailing with Cissnei.

By 10:00 that night all the paint colors had been chosen. That was the easy part. Once Cissnei and Riko had left; they made a plan to start painting the next day after the last of the stuff was moved out of the apartment. Tifa was in charge of making the list of things they would need to get the next day. The four of them sat on the drop cloth covered couch and looked around. There was stuff everywhere…it would take at least a week to get everything back in order. It was a bit overwhelming.

"We have to get this room done tomorrow so we can at least get this room back in order." Tifa said.

"You're right. Should we move anymore stuff around tonight?" Aerith asked.

"No!" Tifa, Cloud and Zack said at once.

"You have to be as exhausted as we are." Zack said to her.

"Yeah, I am." Aerith admitted.

"So, we start with this room, move to the kitchen and then head upstairs. We'll wait on that spare room down here. We have to finish the bedrooms because none of the furniture can go in there until it's done…until then it sits in the hallway." Zack said.

"I have an idea, why don't you and Aerith work on the kitchen tomorrow while me and Zack work on this living room. We'll get more done that way." Cloud suggested.

"Perfect! Alright, I'm going to bed. The first night in our new house. Cloud, we'll run the cable for this TV tomorrow. Since we ran it upstairs running it down here will be a cinch." Zack said standing up and pulling Aerith up off the couch.

"Goodnight." Tifa said.

"If you two aren't awake by 8:00 tomorrow morning one of us is knocking on your door and barging right in so be dressed." Cloud insisted.

"We'll be awake, we promise." Zack said. Cloud and Tifa sat there on the couch as Zack and Aerith disappeared upstairs.

"I'm so tired I can hardly move." Tifa said.

"Yeah, I know." Cloud agreed with her. "I can't believe you're living with me." Tifa laughed.

"I know…to think this all started with a book of stamps." Cloud looked at her.

"It did. Now here we are sitting underneath Aerith's lingerie and wondering what name we're going to put on the mailbox." Cloud said. Tifa laughed again.

"Can't say as I was thinking about the mailbox…I was wondering why that pink thing directly above us has so many hooks…but yeah, yeah the mailbox. We're going to potentially have a lot of names on that box." She said. "Hey, what time is it now?"

Cloud strained to see the one clock they had plugged up haphazardly in the kitchen. "It's almost 10:30." Cloud said.

"Oh my god! Come on, come on! Let's go upstairs and watch my shark show! It starts at 10:30 and there's a mini marathon tonight! Oh my god, this will be so great! We will strip down, get in our…mattress on the floor… and watch the sharks attack the cameras as they swam the divers in those cages!" Tifa said grabbing Cloud and excitedly pulling him up off the couch. Cloud laughed at her.

"I love you." He said. It was the first time Cloud had actually told her that. Cloud had once told her I _think_ I love you. There was no _think_ anymore…he knew he loved her. "I love you for…everything…for everything about you." Tifa let go of him and straddled her legs over him as she sunk into his lap.

"I love you too and I've known I have…for a little while but…I've just been too shy to tell you." Tifa admitted. Cloud held her against him tightly.

"Well, you don't have to be anymore." Cloud reassured her. He kissed her deeply. "Now come on, we're going to miss the beginning of your show and I know how you hate to miss the opening line of 'this week on Shark Explorer'."

"I do hate to miss the opening line." Tifa said messing blond hair with her fingers.

I'm sorry! I know it's another short chapter but it works for what I'm going for, trust me!


	15. A Man in Uniform

It was Monday afternoon and Aerith was upstairs painting away in her and Zack's bedroom. Things hadn't exactly gone as planned on Sunday because Cissnei's boyfriend was called in by Shin-Ra and they couldn't move everything they wanted. The downstairs living room and kitchen had been painted along with the upstairs hallway. Aerith had taken Monday off to make the painting progress faster. Tifa had left for work thirty minutes earlier and now here she was painting as far above her head as she could reach. She had the radio on in the background to keep her motivated to paint.

"Aerith?" Zack called to her. She obviously hadn't heard him. Zack headed up the stairs. "Aerith?" He called to her again.

"Oh, hi! Hold on a second…" Aerith yelled to him. He heard her turn the radio. "Come see the room, Zack! I'm almost done with this wall!" Aerith heard footsteps coming toward their bedroom.

"Oh wow! It looks nice, Aerith. You've gotten a lot of work done today. Maybe…it's time to take a break." Zack said. He voice was unusually soft.

"Thanks! I think it…you're…you're home early…and you…you didn't…you didn't change." Aerith said as she just realized that Zack was home. She was completely mesmerized by him. She stared at him hopelessly as he leaned up against the dresser in the middle of the room. Aerith couldn't have looked any more adorable with her long chestnut hair piled on top of her head and her half naked body littered with paint blotches. She was wearing the oldest shorts she could find and t-shirt that had been cut off.

"I am home early." Zack said sitting in the chair where Aerith had the radio. He was strangely serious and his eyes were fixed on Aerith. Aerith could feel herself starting to sweat a little and she wasn't sure why. She put her paint roller back into its tray.

"Why um…why did you…you wear your uniform home?" Aerith asked biting her lower lip and trying her best to avoid pouncing on Zack right now like a hungry wolf.

"I thought maybe you'd help me take it off." Zack said still watching her with very serious eyes. Hearing Zack said that to her made Aerith weak in the knees. She didn't have to say anything. Aerith wasted no time in climbing on Zack's lap and letting her hands roam him. As far as she was concerned; he was the sexiest man alive and him being home on a Monday afternoon in full uniform didn't make her any less attracted to him. Not to mention these two had unfinished business to take care of…what Zack whispered to her next was possibly the raunchiest, hottest thing that had ever left his lips. Aerith could feel Zack pull her hair down as her body became hot all over.

"Zack…" her voice was already a sigh as she tugged at one of the belts Zack wore. She was a pro…she could have him out of this uniform in under 30 seconds. Zack could hear his belt fall to the floor. He knew Aerith was already working on the second one directly underneath it. She was interrupted by Zack pushing her arms above her head and pulling her messy shirt off. They still hadn't said a word as Aerith pressed her lips into his. She had every strap off of Zack in no time. She grabbed Zack's sleeveless sweater aggressively and pulled him up off the chair.

"Lay down." Aerith begged of him directing Zack over to their mattress in the floor. She clenched the fabric until hr knuckles were white…not that she needed to grip on to him that hard. She had him half undressed, paying no attention to where she had thrown his sleeveless sweater. Aerith felt herself becoming a little nervous as she felt her bra come off her shoulders in one motion. Zack would have never admitted it but he was a little nervous too. They had never done this before…without a condom that is. Zack's hands roamed her back which made it hard for her to undress him any further; not that she was going to complain about his soft touch. Her body was divine and usually it was scary to be this naked in this much sunlight…but neither Zack or Aerith cared. They were more than comfortable with one another. Aerith managed to get Zack out of the rest of his clothes before removing what was left of her own. She knew Zack would have wanted to do that but she had to have him…now. She didn't have the time to wait on him to undress her.

Aerith took a deep breath. She remembered the one thing that Tifa actually _did_ tell her…that this would probably last about 30 seconds. She was going to watch Zack closely…god this felt like the first time all over again…and it was…kind of…she put her hands on Zack's shoulders. She watched as Zack's eyes grew wide, the look on his face…helpless.

"Zack…" Aerith whispered before pressing her lips together. She could hear Zack moan underneath her. She had never heard him respond that way.

"You okay?" Aerith asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

"Oh god…I'm fine…baby…I'm fine…just…don't stop." Zack begged of her. Aerith smiled contently as she watched Zack's eyes close. Aerith sighed at the feeling of Zack's hands sliding up the sides of her body. She may have actually been sighing this way because of everything else she felt but there was no way of telling for sure. Zack knew that this wouldn't last much longer. This was the way Aerith _really_ felt and there was no way in hell Zack would ever use a condom again. Zack begged for more of her. They were both so loud…much louder than they normally were. Of course, the lack of furniture in their room created an echo effect. Thank god they were home alone. The more Aerith cried out for him the closer, and closer both of them came to climaxing. Aerith got a little nervous again…she had no idea what this would be like…the feeling of Zack _actually_ releasing inside her. She was ready for it…yet she wasn't. But Aerith didn't have time to think any longer. She had never heard Zack beg this desperately for her. She gasped…it was more of a part gasp part scream. That…was the best thing Aerith had ever felt in her life and she still wasn't completely done with Zack. She squeezed his shoulders hard. Zack had never looked so helpless in all his life; Aerith had never looked so satisfied in all her life. She looked at Zack with heavy eyes; her mouth limply parted. Zack let his hands slide back down Aerith's body until his palms were resting on her hips. It looked like Zack was going to say something but not a sound escaped his lips. Aerith moved her hand to the side of his face.

Zack wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Aerith downward until she was lying on him. "Aerith…" he finally whispered to her.

"I can…feel you…" Aerith said weakly.

"Really?" Zack put one hand into her head and pulled her cheek to his shoulder. "What's it like?" he wanted to know. Aerith smiled.

"Well it's…it was like…swirling at first. Now it's just…really warm." Aerith answered. Zack's eyes sparkled with both intrigue and sentimentality. He smiled slightly.

"Where? Where do you feel that?" Zack asked her softly. Aerith squirmed around and pulled herself up to her knees. She was still straddling Zack. She took his hand and moved it over her sweaty abdomen until she pushed his hand against the soft skin low between her hips.

"Right here." She answered him. Her face was absolutely glowing.

"Wow." Zack said mostly to himself but loud enough to be heard. "You look so beautiful." Zack's voice sounded like he might cry for a moment. He was strangely sentimental about this entire experience. It was sweet and the truth of the matter was that it was the softest of his soft side.

"I…feel beautiful…but I don't know why." Aerith laughed. It was precious.

"It's because you are." Zack whispered to her before pulling her lips into his. He couldn't remember a time when he had held her tighter. They laid there in silence for a bit, taking in the smells of fresh paint. "Let's go do something." Zack said staring harder into her eyes than he ever had before.

"I want to do _that_ again." Aerith said rubbing her face against Zack's shoulder.

"Oh god Aerith…we _will_ do _that _again later. Let's go do something now." Zack said.

"What time is it? Should we wait on Cloud to get home and call Tifa and…" Zack cut her off.

"No, no. Just you and me. I want it to be just us." Zack insisted.

"What do you want to do?" Aerith asked as she laid there in Zack's arms.

"I don't know. Let's do something nice. Let's go out and just…see where we end up." Zack said.

"Zack, I'm a mess! I can't go anywhere nice." Aerith insisted.

"Yes you can! It's like I said you're beautiful." Zack reassured her. Aerith smiled.

"Well, you pick me out something to wear and we'll go." She said.

"Very well." Zack said reluctantly releasing Aerith and pulling himself up from their mattress. Aerith didn't even bother finishing the wall even though she was so close. Zack picked out some springy looking pink dress for her. She wasn't wearing any makeup, her hair was a mess and she had paint on her hands and arms that wasn't coming off anytime soon…and she had never looked so pretty as Zack took her hand in his and they left the house.

At 5:00 that day Cloud arrived home to en empty house. Tifa was at work and she would be until 9:00. He and Tifa had chosen a most unpredictable color for their room. Neither of them had said anything to Zack or Aerith about their color choice. Cloud decided to start painting since he and Tifa had done nothing in here. They had been working downstairs the day before and had amended to get everything done. Cloud walked into Zack and Aerith's room to see how much work Aerith had gotten done. It was funny because the entire wall he was looking at was only painted as high as Aerith could reach. He thought the silvery-gray color they had picked out looked nice. He also wondered why Zack's uniform was thrown around in pieces. Cloud walked back down the hall to the room that was his and Tifa's. Sure it didn't have the fireplace but instead they got a wall of windows. So, what color had Cloud and Tifa chosen for their room? After lots of careful consideration they chose the one color that was the complete opposite of their reserved personalities…red.

It wasn't one of those in your face red colors Cloud observed as he stirred the paint. It was a deep red, a sensual red…almost like a rose petal. He looked at all the taping they had done around the windows and decided that was the wall to start on since it posed the greatest challenge. Zack would absolutely freak when he saw this color. It wasn't that he would be upset with it…it would just shock him that Cloud and Tifa would pick out a color that non-conservative. Their mattress was shoved up against one wall with the covers messily thrown to one side. They also had two lamps in the floor but the shades hadn't yet turned up. It was okay though because the brightness made for good painting. Cloud felt bad about throwing four dirty infantry uniforms on top of their box of unpacked clothes but he figured he would wash them later before Tifa came home. Their closet was mostly empty since they hadn't emptied this box yet. Cloud had just started painting when he heard his phone make a noise. He obviously had a text message He pulled his phone out of his back pocket. It was Tifa. Her message read: 'Are you home yet? Cloud sent her a message in return. 'Just got in.' Cloud smiled all over at the message she sent back: 'Did you remember stamps?' He sent her another message: 'Got em.' Who would have thought stamps would be so symbolic for them.

Meanwhile in the city, Zack and Aerith had ventured somewhere they had never been before. The lake just outside of the city limits. They had taken a bus to the second stop outside the city and now here they were sitting on the bank with their feet in the water well past their ankles.

"I've never been here before." Aerith said.

"Me neither. I've heard of this lake but I've never been here." Zack said. "It's nice."

"It's so quiet and peaceful and all those sailboats! I didn't even know people around here owned boats." Aerith said as several colorful sailboats floated across the lake.

"Hey, do you think….if we went over to the dock someone would take us out there? Like…on their boat I mean." Zack asked with much curiosity. Aerith laughed.

"Maybe. We could try. The worst that could happen is that they will say no."

"Come on. Let's go ask." Zack said. He had never been more in love with Aerith in all the time he had known her.


	16. All Tied Up

It was 4:00 in the morning. Cloud and Zack normally got up at 5:00 every morning and left the house by 5:30 only to arrive at Shin-Ra at 6:00. Cloud stirred at the feeling of soft lips on his bare chest. He opened weary eyes as he felt Tifa's tongue lick its way up his body. He never once cared a bit if Tifa woke him up like this before the alarm clock went blaring off. "Oooh Tifa…" his voice was barely audible. He could feel her body straddle him and furthermore; he could feel the smoothness of her thigh high tights that she was obviously wearing. "What are you wearing?" he asked her groggily.

"Sssshhhh…" Tifa whispered as she pushed his arms over his head. She had something soft and silky in her hands.

"What….what are you…what are you doing?" Cloud asked her still not really awake.

"Relax." Tifa reassured him softly as she tied his hands by the wrists to their bed frame that they had finally gotten moved into the house the day before. Thank god they had gotten their mattress off the floor. Cloud had never before thought he was into this sort of thing…being restrained that is. But the way Tifa had just taken him, tied him up and was now rubbing her beautiful, barely clad body all over him was quite possibly the most exciting thing Cloud had ever experienced. He could tell that she was wearing lace by the way she felt and not a lot of it. However, he couldn't see her and he couldn't touch her. As Tifa rubbed her body all over him, Cloud wanted her more and more. He was awake now….awake and suddenly sweating all over as Tifa pulled his boxers off.

"Like I said…relax. I'm going to do it all." Tifa said as she kissed him. She left a soft trail of kisses down his chest until she had her mouth wrapped around a painfully hard arousal. The combination of Cloud not being able to touch Tifa, the fact that their room was still too dark to see her, and the feeling of lace and silky sheer tights rubbing against him made Cloud clench his fists in utmost desire for her. She could hear him whine for her as she let her tongue taste him.

It didn't take Tifa long to reposition herself, letting her body sink on to Cloud. She pushed her hands up his body and back down to his hips. "You want to touch me, don't you?" Tifa asked him.

"Yes." Cloud said faintly.

"But I think you like _not _touching me at the same time. I think…you're so excited to feel what I'm going to do to you that you can't stand it." Tifa said as she rubbed herself all over him.

"You're right….god you're right…Tifa…do anything you want to me…god…whip me, tie me up tighter, make me your slave…I don't care what you do to me, Tifa." Cloud pleaded with her mercilessly. She laughed and Cloud groaned at her with craving in his voice because her laughter was so sexy.

She didn't say anything; she let the motions of her hips do all the talking. She started out slowly moving her hips in a grinding circle. She loved the sounds that escaped Cloud. She had never heard him so desperate and faint of breath for her. Cloud could feel the lacey edge of whatever it was she was wearing tickle his soft skin. She may have started out slowly but she had picked up her pace, letting her body slam into him with great force. She loved listening to him moan in torturous pleasure for her. She could feel his body tense up and relax again as he tugged against the satiny fabric Tifa had him restrained with. The sound of her soft, whimpery voice nearly drove Cloud insane. The words they exchanged were heated, intense…down right nasty. It was the perfect way to start a Thursday morning. For a split second Tifa worried that they would wake Aerith and Zack. However, she only thought about it for a split second. After all the times Aerith and Zack had woken them she didn't care if they did wake up to the sound of her and Cloud crying out for each other.

Tifa felt Cloud come in a deluge of passionate fury. It's a wonder he didn't break free of his satin prison the way he buckled underneath Tifa. He trembled and shook all over in a way Tifa wasn't prepared for and as she leaned forward and put her hand on his forehead she could feel her fingertips covered in sweat. Tifa quickly and effortlessly untied him, letting weak arms fall limp beside him. Tifa knew what he needed now and so she quickly left a shaking and breathless Cloud in sweat-soaked sheets to get him a cool, wet washcloth from their bathroom. There was an empty glass in there was well. Tifa knew he would also need a glass of water. She didn't even turn on a light. Why would she want to ruin this erotically charged atmosphere with harsh artificial light?

"Ti…Tif…T…" Tifa knew Cloud couldn't talk as he grabbed her arm tightly with a trembling hand.

"Ssshhh…sshh…sshh…sshh…relax." Tifa said taking his hand and rolling his body over until he was flat on his back. She put an arm behind his head and pulled him up far enough to drink the water she had brought. "Here baby…drink this water." Tifa tipped the glass toward him. It was amazing that she actually managed to not spill it all over him in the dark. "There you go." Tifa took the glass away and reached over him to sit the glass on the nightstand. Cloud was laying listlessly in the pillows still shaking all over. Tifa wiped the cool cloth over his forehead and down his cheek. She left a trace of coolness down his neck and over his chest. Cloud was still shaking though not as profoundly. He kept reaching for her and Tifa kept pushing his hand back and forcing Cloud to lay there and rest. She continued wiping him down, doing what she could to cool him off. A few minutes later she threw the washcloth on the floor beside their bed and finally let Cloud put his hands on her the way he had wanted to.

"Oooh Tifa…Tifa…you are…unbelievable. That was…ooooh my god…give me the phone." Cloud said sighing.

"What for?" Tifa asked reaching for it. He was still weak in voice and body. The time was now 5:00…Cloud needed to get up and get dressed.

"I'm calling in to work today. I'm going to lay right here beside you, I'm going to put my arms around you and we are going to fall asleep and not wake up until 9:30." Cloud said dreamily. Cloud dialed the phone in a bit of a daze. Tifa leaned over him and kissed soft lips while Shin-Ra's automated phone message began listing options to select. Shin-Ra employees had a passcode to bypass all that bullshit. Tifa must have really lit Cloud on fire because in two years of working for Shin-Ra he had missed three days…and all three of those days he had been sick. He may start missing more now that he had Tifa in the same bed with him. Tifa kissed his neck amorously, letting her hands caress him as he left a message. Cloud dropped the phone off their bed, there was no telling where it landed. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard. "I don't know for sure what you're wearing….but oh my god don't take it off until it gets light enough in here for me to see it." Cloud said holding her even tighter against him. Zack would probably come pounding on the door at 5:15 wondering why Cloud wasn't up. On a typical weekday Cloud and Zack were always the first to leave for work. Aerith left the house at 7:30 and Tifa was home alone all day until she left at 12:30. Today however, she was working 3:00-10:00 so she wouldn't be leaving until 2:15.

Tifa had worn Cloud out and frankly, she had worn herself out too. Just as they were both nearly asleep here came Zack pounding on the door.

"Cloud! Cloud! It's 5:15! You up? Cloud!" Zack yelled through the door without even thinking that Tifa _might_ be asleep. Both Cloud and Tifa shot their eyes wide open. Tifa gasped.

"Clo….oooooh shit you…have obviously called in today…" Zack said as he opened the door, letting harsh light from the hall penetrate the room. One thing was sure….he got an eyeful.

"Fuck Zack! Close the damn door for god's sake!" It was the meanest thing Tifa had ever said to him. She knew she would feel bad later for yelling at him like that but right now she _really _wanted him to go to hell.

"I'm sorry! I am so sorry! See you later today." Zack quickly closed the door and headed downstairs.

"I'm sorry baby." Tifa mumbled. She realized now that her body hurt a little.

"It's okay, he's such a pain in the ass sometimes." Cloud squeezed her against him. He was too relaxed to deal with Zack anyway. It was okay though, they would fall asleep again quickly in the quiet pre-dawn hours.

By 8:45 that morning Cloud and Tifa were stirring once more. Their room had filled up with sunlight that poured through the slits in the blinds. They hadn't heard Aerith get up and leave. This was the greatest morning ever…laying here with Tifa on a weekday when Cloud should have been at the Shin-Ra facility. As he slowly opened his eyes he realized that he could no longer smell that awful paint smell in the house. It was becoming a home quickly. He looked at Tifa to finally see what she was wearing. She was the most angelic devil he had ever seen. Tifa yawned and squirmed around to face Cloud. "Good morning." She said smiling.

"It is a good morning." Cloud said kissing the top of her head. "You know what I think?" Cloud said quietly.

"What do you think?" Tifa asked.

"Do you remember when you and I first officially got together and I cooked for you after you came by the apartment after work?" Cloud asked her.

"Of course I do." Tifa said. "You also gave me stamps and I still have the last one in the book." Tifa said. Cloud smiled.

"Well, that wasn't all that long ago and I haven't cooked for just you since then. But, this morning Zack and Aerith are out of the house which means I can cook for you today that way I wanted to be that night…'cause it will just be you and me." Cloud said.

"It will be won't it? Just you and me on Thursday morning. Wow, that is weird." Tifa said laughing. She was tickled by the thought of this.

"In one week and three days you will have officially been my girlfriend for a month. What should we do to mark that milestone?" Cloud asked her. Tifa gasped.

"We could order pizza, get a case of beer and watch seasons two and three of Shark Explorer!" she suggested. Cloud laughed at her and tightened his arms around her.

"This is nothing in this world I would rather do than that. If that's what you want, then that is what we'll do." Cloud told her.

"Well, you can add something. It's your celebration too." Tifa said.

"Okay, I'll think about it." Cloud said.

Cloud and Tifa had a wonderful morning alone in the house. It had been the first time they had been alone since the four do them had moved in. It broke Cloud's heart a little that by 2:15 that day and Tifa had to leave and go to work. He had already texted her 15 minutes after she was out the door. Now, he was laying here on the couch in the living room with the TV on. He knew Zack would be home soon. Normally, they always caught the 2:00 bus to come home because they were done with their shift t 1:30. Like clockwork, the front door opened at exactly 2:20.

"Hey, hey I am so sorry about this morning. Oh my god, had I known you had called in I would have never…but my god Tifa…WOW." Zack said throwing a set of keys on the kitchen counter. Cloud was a little upset with him but he was too distracted by Tifa texting him back to care.

"It's okay. We fell asleep again in no time." Cloud said. Zack opened up the refrigerator in the kitchen and took out the iced tea pitcher.

"You want something to drink?" he asked Cloud.

"Zack, have you…ever been tied up…in bed, I mean?" Cloud asked completely ignoring Zack's question. Zack immediately sat is full glass down on the kitchen counter and shot his eyes over at Cloud.

"Nooo…but oh my god….I'm getting you some tea and you're going to tell me something because if you don't I'm going to make you since it sounds like you have. Wait, wait…have you? Tell me now!" Zack said.

"Yes." Cloud said as he was once again distracted by another text message from Tifa.

"Oh my god…please Cloud, I'm begging you as my best friend in the world to tell me every graphic detail. I will pinky promise you I'll never say a word." Zack said. That comment snapped Cloud out of his daze a bit."

"Zack…only eight-year-olds pinky promise." Cloud said.

"Oh…well…you talk…I'll listen and I won't say a damn thing to a soul I swear!" Zack said.

"Okay, you have a deal but this is only because you're my best friend. Well, except for Tifa, she's my other best friend." Cloud said. Zack sat a glass of tea in front of him.

"Hey, before you tell me anything though, I got to thinking today. Since we now have this amazing house do you realize that you and I can throw the most kick ass 'god I wish I were on that guest list' New Year's Eve party ever?" Zack said. Cloud sent Tifa another message and looked at Zack.

"It's August." Cloud said wondering what the hell Zack was thinking.

"Exactly! Which gives us five months to have a few practice parties and plan the absolute best New Year's Eve party ever! Tifa can wear exactly what I saw her in this morning and she can bartend and you can tell everyone at our party that you're hittin' that. Okay, I can tell by the glare in your eyes right now that your hormones are still out of control so I'll sit here and shut up and let you talk now." Zack said.

"Oooh Zack if I had one gil for every time you and I have talked on this couch." Cloud sighed and put his phone on the table in front of them. Zack laughed.

"Oh god, I know. It's strange isn't it? We started out as roommates confessing everything on this couch…and we still are." Zack said. Cloud laughed.

"Yeah, yeah we still are." He said.

Thank you so much everyone for reading my story! I hope so much that you loved it! This is my last chapter but I am writing a SEQUEL! I'm writing it for all my loyal readers and fans! The title is going to be: Oh, Those Roomates. I hope that you will read on with me. First chapter will be up soon! Thanks everyone, you are so special to me!


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